preface the best of any journey we may take comes when we are home again thinking it over, and...

COLONNAD E OF THE PALACE OF ARTS

A Californ ia Pilgrimage

Frederick A . BisbeeAuthor of

“A Summe r Fl ight”

A Souven ir

of the

Un ited Un iversal ist Conventions

Cal ifornia , 1 9 1 5

1 9 1 5

The Murray P ress

Bos ton

Copyright, 1 91 5

BY UN IVERSALIST PUBLI SHIN G HOUSE

VAIL BALLOU COMPANY

PALM IN PASADENA

PREFACE

The best of any journey we may take comes when weare home again thinking it over

,and dreaming it over,

and talking it over together,with something symp athetic

and suggestive to j og our memories into activity . Thatis why these sketches and p ictures have been gatheredinto this l ittle souvenir volume . But there is stil l an

other reason,perhaps even more important . There

were only a few hundreds of us who went to Cal iforniaon this memorable Pilgrimage ; there were many thousands who wanted to go

,but could not

,and so wide

spread was,and is

,the interest

,that i t is not only a

pleasure but a duty to share,so far as is possible

,the

riches of our experience,and also to give some measure

of permanency to what has proved to be one of thelargest and most significant events in the history of theUniversal ist Church .

The audacity of the proposition to take our Conven

tions to the Pacific Coast,at first shocked and then chal

lenged our people ; we were not accustomed to thinkingin large figures

,and to many it appeared a dangerous

if not an impossible enterprise . The large sums ofmoney necessary to transport a delegation of respectabl enumbers and meet the incidental expenses

,seemed to

threaten financial wreck . But the fears were groundless . Through careful management the expenses of theexecutive boards o f our four National Conventions did

PREFACE

not exceed the average of other years . More money wasraised for miss ions than at former meetings of a likenature

,the impulse given to missions will result in r ec

ord-breaking contributions in the months to come , andthe amount of mis sionary work actually performed indirect connection with the Pilgr image marks the beginning of a new era of miss ionary achievement .The purpose of this record is to show the personal and

social side rather than the routine of business,which

has had its own publ ication,but it is well to say of this

unique meeting of our ConventionsIt was an adventure of faith

,and a v ictory of faith .

I t was a triumph of co—operation .

It was a revelation of our Church to ourselves,show

ing undreamed of capacities and resources .It was a prophecy of a brighter

,a bigger and a better

future .But after all

,that which cl ings closest and is most

enduring is the splendid sp irit of fellowship and friendship developed through those memorable weeks together ,when we

,a group of Pilgrims, carried the message of our

glorious faith from ocean to ocean .

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

I TOW ARDS THE SUN SET

II CROSSING THE GREAT DIVIDE

III THROUGH THE DESERT To PARADISE

IV MEANDERINGS AN D MUSINGS IN FAIRYLAND

V IN OLD MISSION DAYS

VI SAN DIEGO AN D ITS E ! POSITION GEM

VII “EL CAM INO REAL”

VIII SAN FRANCISCO THE PHEN Ix

I! E ! PLORING THE Expos IT ION

! “UN IVERSALIST DAY” AT THE E ! POSITION

! I FACING HOMEW ARD

! II THE JOURNEY I DID N OT TA ! E

THE YUCCA

ILLUSTRATION S

PAGEColonnade of the Palace of Arts F ron tispiece

Palm in Pas ad ena

The YuccaDaily Ugcwumaypcus s

Snapshots Along the W ay

Plungi ng into the Rockies—Seeing the Mormon TempleA Car- load of Pilgrims 23

Nevada Indian Wickiup 26

Scenes in the Desert 29

Universalist Churches in R iverside , Pasadena Los Angeles 33

R iot of F lowers 39

Motoring in the Foothills 42

Memorial to Father Throop and Dr . Conger 45

Hotel Maryland Pergola 46

“E l Camino Real”—San Gabrie l Mission—Santa Catalina 49

A Pasadena Home 52

Picki ng Oranges 55

California State Building at the San Diego Exposition 58

A Pacific Beach 65

Court of Palms 73

Seal Rocks—Fountain of Energy Avenue of Palms 81

They Call It a Tea Hous e 83

Palace of Horticulture 85

Court of the Un iverse 88

Round About the Fair 91

ILLUSTRATIONS

Cali fornia BuildingCourt of Abundance

The Colonnade

Three Mountains—Sir Donald Mount Tam‘alpais,

Lowe

Via Shas ta R oute to Canada

Portland , Oregon, Church an d Pas tor

A CALIFORNIA PILGRIMAGE

CHAPTER I

TOW ARDS THE SUNSET

It can ’t be done ! ” But it was done . It wil l beso hot ! ” But i t was not . f ‘

No one will go ! ” Butthree hundred did go .

“ I t wi ll surely fail ! ” But itdid not.

“We are not big enough to carry out such agreat enterprise ! ” But we did take the largest excursion out of Boston , and the railroad men of Chicagoannounced that ours was the largest out of Chicagothis season .

All of which shows that,sometimes , we kn ow more

about things after they‘

have happened than before !But mostly we do not learn this lesson until it i s tool ate ! A good many who wanted to go did not make uptheir minds until i t was too late , and to them the storyof our j ourney into the sunset may be harrowing totheir feel ings , but in the interest of our denominationalhistory we must write down the record which showsthat the Universal ist Church can do a great thing i f itreally wants to .

We are ap t to balk at raising a few thousand dollars for the miss ion work of our cause

,but when we

really want something and are‘

determined to have it,

l ess than five hundred of us can,and actually have

,

1 1

12 A CALIFORNIA PILGRIMAGE

put up over one hundred and fifty thousand dollarsfor the best time on record

,and an insp iring session

of our Conventions as an incident. There are thoseWho ask the old question which the Master answeredcenturi es ago : Could not all this money have beengiven to miss ions ! ” The Master ’s answer is just asgood to-day !It has been a long and arduous task making ar

rangements fer the tour,and to so adjust it that it

would really serve our church . From the first theCommittee has determined that this was to be no mereexcursion . I t would have been easy to gather a miscel laneous crowd

,but we have insisted upon a personnel

which is identified with our own people . There havebeen hundreds of appl ications which have been rej ectedbecause the appl icants were simply desiring to make useof our going to get something for themselves—thosewho wanted to use us as long as useful and then dropus . We succeeded in gathering Universalists and theintimate friends of Universal ism ; we kep t them togetherand landed the whole party at the Los Angeles Church forthe first meeting

,and on the third day

,When this is being

written,the members of the party are carrying out the

program and we are holding a really great sess ion . Be

tween sessions,and after the meetings are over

,every op

portun i ty i s being furnished so that the enj oyments of thetour are made possible for al l . But we brought out Universal ists to attend our Conventions and they are doing it .It was no small tas k to work out the mul titude of details

,

but with help from all,and with a fine sp irit of self

sacrifice and will ingness to make the best of every thing ,with a practical fel l owship and co-operation on the partof all

,we came into this wonderful land tofind that our

TOWARDS THE SUNSET 1 3

gracious hosts had been doing equally great stunts , andhad mastered their problem to the las t detail , and theirworld was ours . More must be said later of the splendidhosp ital ity which has made these Conventions memorable .From an advertising standpoint

,this great enter

prise has been worth all it cost,for from the time when

we entered the gate at the South Station in Boston whichwas marked by a big Si gn , UNIVERSALIST CONVENTIONS

’

,until we landed safely in Cal ifornia the people

knew that the Universal ist Church was on the map ! Inthe East the law forbids s igns upon th e trains

,but after

we left Chicago a big Sign,at night electri cally l ighted ,

glowingly lighted our way through thousands of miles ofcountry

,and in much of the new country this was supple

mented by the distribution of our l iterature , which wassown as seed along the way .

About one hundred and fifty of the Pilgrims,rep

resenting ev ery New Engl and State , took the train inBoston

,another group was added at Worcester

,and

still more at Springfield . Another car was attached atAlbany

"

containing the New York delegation . Utica,

Syracuse and Rochester made their contributions,until

over two hundred were on board . All these were incharge of three conductors from Thos . Cook Son

,and a

genial representative from the New York Central system .

We were cared for‘ to the l imit,and at the end of the first

half of the pilgr image,a vote of the members would be

unanimous in commending the management,which ex

tended to every detail . This is to be sa id in justice toThes . Cook Son , that not only did they l ive up to theiragreements in every particular, but were generous inmaking adaptations to fit every contingency

,and we all

owe a debt of gratitude to the ir representatives , whowith

1 4 A CALIFORNIA PILGRIMAGE

infin ite courtesy and patience took from our shouldersthe many petty cares of a long journey

,and gave us free

dom to enj oy unrestrained the del ights of the trip .

And we did enj oy to the utmost . No ac c ident and noillness , no unfors een event , marred the delightful com

pan ion sh ip. About the di n ing tables we became ac

quain ted ,and within a few hours we were as one family .

To each member the General Committe e gave a beautifulbadge and pin

,the latter of sterl ing Silver and

!

enamel,

showing the die of the ‘United Universal ist Conventions ”

which has appeared in connection with all the advertising ,and is sure to be preserved as a souvenir of real worth .

Every one was introduced to every one el se by the wearing of white d isks

,upon which appeared the name and

address of the wearer . These were the “Who ’s Whoof the journey .

The second day brought a pleasant surprise in theform of the first issue of the Dai ly Ugcwumaypcuss , anewspaper

,which was ed ited and printed on the tra in

by a group of the young people,assisted by a large

corps of the ablest writers ! This daily paper was madepossible by the generosity of one of the elder and mostloyal and generous Universa l ists , who , being himself

unable to go , contr ibuted a travel ing typewriter, towhich was added a duplicating machine

,by the use of

which it was possible to issue every morn ing an editionof three hundred copies so that every “ subscriber wassuppl ied . That th is enterprise was a success was shownby such a demand for extra copies

“ to send to friends,

”

as to put a premium on them .

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

CHAPTER II

CROSSIN G THE GREAT DIVl DE

At Chicag o our train became too heavy to run asone section

,and thereafter we drove tandem all the

way through . But we were continually“

coming togetherat important stat ions for bri ef interchange of greetings , whenever the tail overtook the kite ! We partedcompany at Chicago in the earl y evening

,after we had

traipsed al l over the village together,renewing our rela

tions when we awoke next morning,at Omaha

,where

we became the guests of the Union Pac ific for a day anda n ight

,and we were toured across the plains along the

new but already famous Lincoln Highway . Of whichwe wish to remark in passing , that it is better to enj oythis highway from a Pullman sleeper running smoothlyon the ra ils

,than to attempt to exploit it

,after a long

season of heavy rains,in a F 0 1‘d - OI

‘ even in an automobile !There was a continuous process ion of vehicles all

headed for Cal ifornia,but we can not conscientiously

say,going there ! Some seemed to have become fixe d

features of the landscape , and from the hubs up werevisible to the naked eye . The upper works were coveredwith the impedimenta of the j ourney , and the surrounding rocks

,when there were any , became pedestals

on which were perched lugubrious statues o f humanswrapped in dusters and waterproofs , havmg the time

16

CROSSING THE GREAT DIVIDE 1 7

of their l ives ! There is no doubt about it,for the

mos t of them i t was different from anything they hadbefore experienced

,and after all

,most of our good times

are simply different times . It is not a questi on ofbetter or worse . We nearly kill ourselves to get rich ,and then kill ourselves again to get back to the sim

pl i c ity of poverty . People tear the world to p ieces toget into soc iety

,only to move heaven and earth to get

away from society and get a rest ! Those peoplestranded on the plains 'of Nebraska or amid the baremountains of Wyoming

,getting a cold bite from the

lunch bas ket,tearing their gloves and blistering their

hands in really doing something,fill ing their lungs full

of pure air,and bringing into play muscles they knew

not they possessed,probably thought they were having

hard luck,but you run across them a few months later

,

and they will tel l their experience with a gusto which

shows that down deep enough there is a bit of genuinehuman nature in the most art ific ial of us all . I t is sucha wretchedly smal l house-of-self we live in most of thetime

,and we think l ife is to fi l l our small shanty with

good things ; then comes along an experience andsmashes the walls of our domicile , and we find ourselvesout of doors in the big world and in the companionshipof fellow human beings

,and everything is magnified

,

and we are glad to l iveBefore we were half-way on our journey

,we on the

Special were getting acquainted and finding that therewere other nice people beside ourselves on board

,and

it did not matter who were in the “ uppers ” or who werein the “ lowers

,

” or even who were in the whohad “ first sitting ” or who had second

,for we were all

one family,multiplying our own pleasure by so many


times as we made some one else glad . There is verylittle difference between a special train-load of folksand a world -l oad of folks ! In fact

,this world is just

one of the Lord ’s Special s ” on a long tour of theUniverse

,and is being specially conducted ! Mostly

the passengers are contented and happy,but of course

there are some who have not known how to l ive . Theyhave not discovered the fallacy of our lowly friendsthe p igs

,and so they are out to get all they can and

give as l ittle as they can,with th e resul t that they never

get out of their l ittle p en,until they are fat enough to

kill ! Some time we are all going to d i scover’

that thereal law of l ife is sacrifice ; that we get only throughgiving ; that noone can l ive alone unto h imself withoutl osing all he seeks for .The conductor of the Pullman tra in offi cially pro

nounced our party the best one he had ever conducted ;and we agreed with him ! We came very near real izingthe ideal of community life

,which means simply that

we practised the rel igi on we were out to preach . Andif we could do that all the time the kingdom of heavenwould not be far away . But we had some preachingtoo . We had our special song books

,Songs Along the

Way,and we had the fine portable organs

,and we

had some genuine singers and regularly we h ad servicein the cars

,wi th addresses or sermonettes by some of

our ministers who can only be heard ordinarily in thebig pulp its of the big cities . But this was no ordinaryoccasion ! These servi ces will long be remembered bythose who enj oyed them so much ; they were really abenediction bringing us all closer together in real fel

lowsh ip of the sp iri t . And there were other co—operations beside' those of . worship,

for at times troupes went

SNAPSHOTS ALONG THE W AY


through the cars s inging glad songs , and entertainmentsof a varied character were given in which the versa tility of talent displayed made startl ing revelations of theW ideness of the minister ’s education !The plains of Nebraska were a novelty to the NewEngland farmers

,accustomed as they are to two rocks

to every bit of soil . The far-reaching acres of fertileland seemed to Show the extravag ance of Providencewhen free from puritanical restraint ! All over thesewide acres the inhabitants had thoughtfully decoratedthe scene with picturesque bunches of cattle and horses

,

until .we began to doubt there being any excuse for thehigh cost of l iv ing . Through this lan d we had expectedto get our first tas te of the bl istering heat which thosewho remained at home had promised

‘

us if we did sofoolish a thing as to go into the IVest in the middle ofthe summer . But ala s for their

’

prophecies ! .Theweather was perfect , the frequent showers freshened theatmosphere and made clean and beautiful the entirelandscape

,there was absolutely no dust

,and never was

a j ourney made in more comfort .When we woke the third morning out

,we were just

beginning to cl imb the eastern“ slope of the Rockies,but

so gradual is this slope it was hardly perceptible,and

before we realized it we were over a mile above sea l evel ,and were twisting and turning in and out among thel ittle mounta ins on top of the great range

,and find ing

new surprises and delights in every turn, It i s a ‘ th ingworth while to feel that you are actually on top of theearth and almost everything is beneath you

,just enough

left above to keep your as pirations al ive and active . Al ittl e way beyond Cheyenne we were at the summi t, buthad it not been for the figures given on the time table

CROSSING THE GREAT DIVIDE 21

showing the altitude few would have real ized how nearthey were to heaven ! But then that is a common ex

per i ence with us all , we never know when we are nearest success

,or when heaven is nearest at hand . Mostly

we are always going to be blessed,or going to be happy ,

and in looking for that which is to come,we overlook

that which is at hand . On top of the Rockies we sensein some measure the bigness of this world and howfew peopl e there are on it . How many miles we drovealong with never a house or a l iving thing in sight ,an d then we would dash through some city , or pauseat some station

,and the groups of people would catch

sight of the Sign on our train and begin to wonder“who

these Universal ists were'

And in one place where wepaused for a few moments we overheard one nativeexplaining to another that we were the “Universal F ilmCompany ! ” Such is fame ! But it was revealed tous as we traveled that the fields for our missionary workare broad ; we have not yet touched the edge of ourmiss ion . And here we began the sowing of our missionary l iterature . We thought we

"

took great quantities ,but really what we had was but as a drop in the ocean .

If it ever happens that we go agai n into a new country,

we must take with us not less than a carload,and then

arrange to foll ow it up with more . We have not yetlearned the alphabet of missionary extension

,and that

i s the law‘

of our l ife,as it is the condition of the l ife

Of any church . We must grow or die .Throughout that great country , with its new and

Inqu isitive and aspiring people,there are vast districts

where there is no church of any sect,and vas ter

'

distr icts where they never heard of

‘

an interpretation ofChristianity which is sane and Sweet and salutary and


scientific and sensible,and here were we being hurtled

through , with our hearts full of the greatest messagethe world has ever known

,and had to offer but a few

little leaflets !' But we noted how ,

perhaps but fromcuriosity

,old and young ran eagerly to pick up the

message we threw down .

In every one of these throbbing, thrill ing cities of the ,

wide West,that are growing so fast in material things ,

we should have at least a station for the distri bution ofour literature ; even more , we should have a churchfor the proclamation of the Gospel of the UniversalFatherhood of God and the Universal Brotherhood ofMen

,the one and only solvent of the great and p ress

ing p roblems of the age . An d we can have all these,

if we are wi l l ing to take our mission seriously,and not

think of it simply as a means of more or less elegantsupport ! The churches now establ ished and the mini sters now being sustained must recogn ize that measurably they are all fail ing, no matter how large the

‘

congregation , how magnificent the edifice , how brill iantthe preacher

,—they are fail ing unless they are reaching

out with their message to the most remote fields .IVe are profoundly

,impress ed with the influence upon

those who were on this j ourney,making them feel some

th ing of the miss ionary spirit for the UniversalistChurch

,and we are sure that some of this seed seat

tered along the way will take root and grow and bearfruit . Would that we could have scattered a thousandtimes as much ; would that we might have burned thename of the Universal ist Church upon the very rocksof the mountains through which we passed

,and. left

something of its beneficent Spiri t in the hearts of allwhom we met ! Some of this we did ; we carried cheer


and hope and confidence to the'

scattered of our faith ,we made many know of the Universal ist Church whonever knew of it before

,and in

_

the t imes to cOme,when they are seeking after a program of l ife

,i t may be

they will turn again to i t and find help ; Of coursewe might have done more

,but we rej oice that we have

done what we have,that we faced a magnificent op

portun i ty and were not afraid . We have shown that wecan do big things if we choose

,and are more ready to

attempt something worth while .

It may be the big mounta ins,the bigger plains

,the

wide view,the larger sense of a new freedom ; i t may

be the sp irit of the Golden and Glorious West is uponme

,and that is why I am seeing th ings big for our

Church ; but whatever it is , I wel come'

i t and surrendermyself to it . Never was the world ’s need of the Universal i st Faith and Universal ist Church so great as today ; its theological work of the pas t was but child

’s playcompared to the stupendous practical service it can andshould render tO

' human ity in this hour . There arethose who are timid and will shrink from the burden

,

there are those who are selfish and will pause to calculate as to how it will affect them personally , but thereare others

,true disciples of the Master

,who are ready

to go at his command . I bel ieve there are enough ofbraveand consecrated souls ready to set the Universal istChurch on its way to victory

,the victory which will

bring in the kingdom of heaven .

Itwas noon when wei

arrived at Salt Lake C ity . Foran hour we had been riding along in sight of the GreatSalt Lake

,the mystery of the West , and al l longing

for a chance to have a swim in water where we couldnot sink ! Then we came to the city itself , not upon the

CROSSING THE GREAT DIVIDE 25

shore of the lake,but in the chosen place where of Old

came the strange people who h ave made of i t one of thegreat c ities of th e world

,and doing it all by a certain

phase of the dominant motive of the age , co-operation .

Whatever we may think of the Mormon rel igion , andagainst much of it we instinctively revolt , we mustrecognize the far-reaching wisdom which planned onso large a scal e the real ization of so large a thought .

It is a beautiful city for situation ; girt round by maj estic mountains whos e melting snows are commanded tosupply most del icious water in great abundance , i t isthe throbbing heart of one of the most productive distr i cts in the entire nation . On the face of things hereis everything that man can demand

,peace , prosperity

and happiness ! ‘ But—there i s a fly in the o intment !We were taken to a beautiful

,a magnificent hotel ,

which has been built by the church . We were feastedas we might have been at one of the great hostelries inthe East ; no difference could be seen . Then we sangour songs and had a prayer and went out to see thesights

,in sight-seeing cars and automobiles . We saw

the park in which we were to have had our service hadtime permitted

,and we entered the tabernacle

,where we

were invited to join ‘ in a service , which we could not do .

We “ did the town ” in a most Satisfactory way,and

continued to wonder at the marvel of the thing. Herewere the glorious results of co-operation

,and yet never

has there existed a more complete autoc racy ! Greatthings can be done when vast sums of money are contributed to a common fund either voluntarily or on compulsion

,providing there is a real head at the head and no

one asks any questions ! Mysterious and mighty organi zations can and do accompl ish marvels , but there must


be some other evidence of the worth of a rel igion than abank account and government

‘

control '

And then it was evening and we were away on thelast lap of our j ourney

,across the Nevada deserts an d

.

over the Sierras to the real ization of ourern California .

NEVADA IND IAN W IC ! IUP

CHAPTER III

THROUGH THE DESERT TO PARADISE

We were out in the real desert,and one -of our min

i sters—and a numbe r of others—remarked : “D id you

ever see such a God-forsaken country ! ” A nd withina few hours the same minister was reading in the service

,

“ The earth is the Lord ’s and the fullness thereof ! ”

But,l ike many others

,he p icked out certain particular

spots which happened to please his fancy,as the spec ial

possession of the Lord,and left us wondering as to the

ownership of the desert ! To my thinking the desertis an especially choice possession of the Lord , and it iseasy to find Him there . To those who hustle throughits wide reaches when the heat is intense

,as i t sometimes

is,and the dust is penetrating and the glare of the l ight

is dazzl ing,and there is no green thing to rest the eye ,

and no l iving thing to divert the thought , there comesthe instinctive thought of death

,but the desert i s not

dead,it s imply has not yet come into l ife . The desert is

at the beginning of things ; al l the rest of the world ismore or less far along the way towards death . Thedesert has not yet been born . I t is potential with l ife .

Touch it w ith the magic of water and presently it istransformed as

‘

by a miracle . Beneath that grey and attimes almos t ghastly face , there i s wondrous beauty ,beneath “ that insensible crust there is every form of

27


vegeta ble and mineral l ife , and but a l ittle farther alongthe possibil ity of every phase of animal l i fe up to thehuman—all unawakened

,but waiting their time . When

the proud cities of men,the productive mines and fruit

ful fields,have reached the end of their resources , then

will the desert be coming into its own ; touched by oneof the fingers of God , i t will bloss om as the rose ; insteadof the thorn there shall come up the myrtle .Only a few have seen the real desert in all its mag

n ificent variety and its thrill ing sensitiveness . It isnot for those who travel in Pullmans

,grinding its

beauty and ' sentiment and vital ity under the wheels ,to know its mystery and maj esty . Men go and l ivein the desert

,and after they have l ived there a little

while they come to love it,and can not be drawn away .

And sometimes it i s given to the passing guest to catcha gl impse of its sublimity

,and ever after he treasures

the m emory . To know the desert one must see i t atnight

,when the great stillness is over all—when

,in an

atmosphere so pure that it weaves no barriers to the eye,

one looks across the long,long distances

,such as are

known nowhere else on the globe,rimmed with great

shadowy mountains which are so mobile in the fingersof the moonl ight that they are l ike dissolving views ofhouses and castles where romance has i ts birth , andwhere poetry dwells .

“

There is no moonl ight l ike that wesee and feel in the -desert ; there is no such starl ight elsewh ere on the whole earth . To be out alon e beneath thestars

,and see them

,not stuck against the sky

,but each

one swung down on invisible cords until i t hangs therein space

,while the sky is farther beyond than the star

is from the eye ! And the moon is a new luminary , notthe old , dead planet gl owing with reflected l ight , but a

SCENES I N THE DE SERT


living thing dominating the biggest world we have everseen , and setting the mountains to playing hide and seekwith their own shadows . God -forsaken ! Go out. intothat wonderful stil lness

,l ie down with your face to the

heavens , and look into such d istance as you have neverknown , l ook as far as you can , and then look farther , fornew worlds are opening beyond

,sense the bign ess of the

earth,the smallness of yourself

,poss ess a thought of

the universe that wil l be yours for the first time,real ize

how far you are from the puny sounds of man and thesight of his tiny creations

,then look upon the mighty

worlds swinging from the fingers of God,l isten till you

catch a bit of the harmony of a universe of order,and

presently you will say ,

“Lo,God i s here

,

” and you wil lworship more truly than at any man -made alta r .It was from my window in the sleeper that I looked

out upon the moon-l i t and star-l it night as the tra inrolled on with i ts treasures of human l ives

,mostly un

conscious of the marvel s through which they were passing , and I caught gl impses of God

’s dwell ing place , butI saw more and farther through the windows of memory—other nights in the deser t in which I had learned tolove and reverence this Holy of Hol ies in the temple ofour God .

We were very fortunate in finding the desert in amos t genial mood . We had been warned against

.

thedangers we were inviting

,by choosing a route which

would carry'

us through “ the dreary wastes ” when thesummer sun was high . And we did experience someexcess of temperature

,but not enough to make us any

more uncomfortable than we are hundreds of times amidthe hills of New Engl and , for there we are stewed in a


glimpse of'

the golden fruit of the orange nestling withinthe cool shadows of the dark green leaves .The first Sight of an orange on the tree is an exper i

ence only to be forgotten when the keener experienceof p icking the fruit has crowded it into obscurity .

There are few fruits more picturesque than the orange ;i t appeals not only to

'

the palate,but to the imagina

tion . It is so attractive'

that it makes one wonder sometimes if it was not an orange rather than an appl e whichtempted our good old mother Eve ! Certainly it seemsmore plausible to suppose that the l ady in question wasa dweller in the more salubrious cl imate where the

orange grows,rather than in Maine or Michigan or

Minnesota,where the apple reaches its perfection !

Anyway we saw the Oranges of Southern Cal i forn ia on .

the trees,and later w e had the pleasure of actually pick

ing them ; and of the eating—i t i s better that the recordsbe erased !W e

'

had made our plans to arrive in Riverside intime to hold an ‘ informal reception and have a briefservice in our beautiful church

,and we did

,but not

exactly accord ing to program . There was a hot box onthe first division of our train

,and through its unde

sirable assistance we were able to see more of certainportions of the country than we wished

,and at last ,

when we had reached a convenient siding,the second

section went past us,the passengers cheering us with de

r i s ive messages.

and otherwise displaying thei r“

ghoul ishglee at our d iscomfiture , and then speeding on to eat

oranges and drink innocent punch and enj oy the

speeches of welcome specially prepared for us ! Butwe got there all the same

,and though we were late

,the

.

welcome and the punch held out .

UN IVER SAL I ST CHURCHES IN

RIVERS IDE ,

PASADENA,

LO S ANGELE S


Cal ifornia would not be California,without River

side . The place i s quite unique . The Easterner hascome to think of oranges and Magn ol ia Avenue andthe Mission Inn and dreamy days and dreamless nightsand life ideal whenever Rivers ide is mentioned . It isal l true ; and the half has not been told . But whenthe . other half is told we shall learn something aboutthe condition on which alone we can enter this earthlyheaven ! There were no conditions upon us save thosefixed by time

,but then

,better one hour of Rivers ide

than a l ifetime in Sing Sing,or even sixty mi nutes in

Boston ! One of the features of Riverside i s our ownbeautiful church

,round which cluster memories of

sacred l ives who carried our faith to the Pacific Coast,

and recollections o f one of our successful missionaryendeavors

,when by the united efl

’orts of al l of our peo

ple from nearly every state,we builded something worth

while . When we came to the church we found it deckedwith flowers

,and our pastor

,Mrs . Irwin

,with some of

the friends receiving . There were speeches by thepastor and Mr. Carrier

,a former pastor

,with responses

from the happy Pilgrims,and then

,in our own way

each one decorated with a big orange,which was “ felt

,

we saw as much of the sights as we could and were awayagain to our goal at Pasadena . Only a coup l e of hoursby schedule

,but there were some delays

,and so it was

nearly midn ight when at last we were all as leep in thecharming an d restful Maryland Hotel .At Riverside m embers of the local committee from

Pasadena met us,and from that moment we cast upon

them all our cares,and we real ized that we were in the

land of perpetual sunshine . This matter of hosp ital ity

THROUGH THE DE SERT TO PARADISE 35

has much,i f not most

,to do with making l ife worth

living anywhere and any time,for there is no time or

p lace when we must not entertain or be enterta ined , andthe secret of it all is not so much the bounty as thebeauty

,not so much the generos ity as the grace with

which we serve or accep t service . Whosoever goes forthto get as much or more than some one else , or to envyanother ’s getting

,will lose all . Whos o gives hosp ital ity

which is perfunctory and ungracious knows not its j oysand gi ves not its blessings . Out of our faith growsnaturally the truest hosp i tal ity , and it has been exempl ified along the way of our p ilgrimage .It occurs to me that somewhere between sketches

,I

have dropped out the menti oni ng of~

our reception in

Chicago . It has not gone from my memory,but I shoot

these ep istolary arrows into the air,and I have no

means of knowing when or where they light. I try tokeep the connection by way of l inking notes

,but some

where between Pasadena and San Francisco my noteswere lost

,and therefore I am liable to all sorts of omis

sions or repetitions,as it wil l be several weeks stil l be

fore I can know what I have written ! However,the

thoughtfulness of St . Paul ’s Church in inviting us toluncheon recalled the former experience when we wereon our way to the Convention in Mimi eapol is and webroke our j ourney in companionship with our Chicag ofr iends . It was in accord with the thought of the wholeenterprise

,that we of the East should get into touch

not only with the fell ows of l ike faith on the PacificCoas t, but all along the way , and it was good to receivethe cordial greetings of the pastor

,Dr . Brigham

,and

the hearty words of Messrs . Hutchinson , Stevens and

36 CALIFORNIA PILGRIMAGE

Holly . Some time we are going to be abig and so fraternal that there w il l be no Eas t

,

no North,no South

,but something of the Spi

name will take possession of us and we shallver sal i sts and l ive up to it .

CHAPTER IV

M EANDERINGS AN D MUSIN GS IN'

FAIRYLAND

A week in Pasadena and Los Angeles is sufficient tojustify a large expenditure of money and time . Asidefrom the sessions of our Conventions

,things were hap

pening nearly every hour of the day,and mos t of the

hours of the n ight ! Between sess ions and during thetime allotted to Sight-seeing we had but to follow theplans of the local committee to cover pretty well

,with

the commonplace equipment of earth,the whole area

of this modern fairyland . But we were impressed with

the difficulty of giving instructions so they would lodgein the consciousness of those seeking. A large bulletinboard was placed in front of the church which everyone must pass in going in or out

,repeated notices were

given from the desk,and yet some would persistently

lose their way . But there is th is advantage in losingone ’s way in Pasadena ; if you miss the place you aregoing to you are sure to find something better where youarrive ! It was a bit disconcerting to feel the attractionof Mount Lowe pull ing us towards heaven and SantaCatalina pull ing us the other way ! But there was thecompromise on San Gabriel . All together we were ableto see everything

,but so much was seen vicariously that

the only complete story must be a composite which noone can tell .In Los Angeles we were first introduced to a common

37


experience of the get fed quick system locally knownas

‘

the “ cafeteria .

” This system,which originated

somewhere on the earth—or below—l ike everything elsewhich is transplanted to Californ ia

,has grown to mam

moth proportions,and takes root in curious and most un

expected places . The one to which we were first introduced was in the Trinity Methodist Church

,together

with a moving p icture Show and stores of various kinds .

To be explicit,the Methodist Church has built itsel f into

a great city block surrounded by all sorts of businessfrom which it derives the income to meet its expenses

,

and the lower story is devoted to the “ cafe teria,

” wherewe entered in single fi le

,eventually reaching a counter

where each’

on e helps himsel f to a large tray,a napkin

,

kn ife and fork and spoon,then

,sl iding this tray along

a track past all forms of eatables,he selects such as ap

peal to him,and at the end of the counter his collection

is checked up ; he then bears his loot to a table , satisfieshis appetite

,and then

,if he has the p rice

,he can get

out through another opening—in time to start overagain for the next meal ! I can not Say I approve ofthe system ! It is too mechan Ical ; i t destroys all thepoetry of eating . One h as the feel ing of being fed w i ththe other animals

,and the undeveloped possibil it ies are

appalling,for in the not distant future I can see the

downtrodden publ i c not only being required to selecti ts own food

,but being compelled to cook it

,or even to

catch the chicken on the hoof !There are the great sights to see—looking down from

Mount Lowe across the crags and chasms and the foothill s to the wide levels checker-boarded with orange andOl ive

,apricot and walnut

,to the beautiful c ities

,then

on and on to where the Pac ifi c weds the sky on the


horizon ; then there are the marvels below the sea , as

we sit in the glass-bottomed boat in the crescent harborat Santa Catal ina

,and look down into the depths on

scenes unparalleled off the spectacular stage,where

colors are all a riot,and forms ‘Violate all rules of art

to create a new art . There is nothing to which thescenery below the water can be compared

,it is so en

t i rely unique . The water is as clear as the air , and ina depth of fifty feet everything is as clearly seen ashorizontally acros s fifty feet of distance . There aremountains and plains

,forests and sandy wastes

,and

through all these sport all kinds of fish,many of them

most brilliantly colored,and of freakish shape , u ntil

we l ift our eyes to the famil iar world with a feeling thatwe have just passed through a nightmare . Then we canwander or ride over the mountains of this lonely islandout in the midst of the Pacific

,and strain our eyes to

the westward where,with the imag ination to extend

our vision,we can l ook into the very heart of Japan .

For those who love fishing Catalina is a paradise,for

not only are there many fi sh,but they are the gamey

type which seem to enj oy the Sport as much as the fellow at the other end of the l ine ! A large party of ourpeople made the one day trip to the island

,return ing

sun-burned and happy,from a country more distant

really than those across the ocean,for it is one more

d ifferent,and after all it is difference which makes d is

tance rather than the measured miles ..But it is the l ittle things and the common things thatare best

,and after we have seen and seen until our eyes

are weary,it is restful to sit in a comfortable machine

,

when the day is near its ending,and just be driven about

the wonder-city of Pasadena,and see the perfection to

MEANDERINGS AND MUSINGS 41

which the building of homes can be brought,and note

how like j ewels of finest grade they are fittingly set inthe most beautiful surroundings of lawns and flowersand trees such as seem to grow nowhere else

,and one

realizes something of the luxury of l ife and l iv ing . Yetwho may tell the mysteries shut behind the carved doors !And who wants to

,even if he could ! There is so l ittle

difference between the life in one sort of a homesteadand another when we count it in essentials—enough toeat

,enough to wear

,just enough of comfort and con tent

,

and love,and it does not matte r

i

what the walls of thehouse are made of

,or what the surroundings . All pOs

sess ions mean care,and more possessions mean more

care . There is the struggle of many to get a l iving outof a dollar

,and squeeze a bit of happiness with it

,but

th e struggle is no harder than that which is made byanother to get a l iving and a .bit .of happiness out of athousand dolla rs ; it all depends on the habits we haveformed . And there is happiness in the big houses too

,

no less than in the little ones,and no more

,either ! But

those magnificent estates . bordering either Side of thewide avenues are beautiful to look upon

,and the beauty

belongs to al l,and all can enjoy

,while one pays the

bills ! Sometimes I have wondered ho-w much sati sfac

tion the owner of the big house would get were therenone to look at it save himself ! When the big house isbuilded and given its setting

,then

,save

'

others come tosee

,the building is in vain . The most dependent people

in the world are those who have much,for they must

wait on those who have opportunity to give . The bird,

if i t thinks at al l,must sometime think of gratitude to

the thoughtful men who have spent years and mill ions ins tringing telegraph wires all over this round world , for

MOTOR ING IN FOOTHILLS


the birds to roos t ou—so thinks the bird ! And in something the same way we are all tangled up together withthe things we must all be thankful for, and i t does notmatter in the least whether we are big or l ittle , each isequal ly indebted to the other . I am more than gratefulfor the beauty and the j oy and the satisfaction and thesupreme glory of the wonder-c ity , but my gratitudereaches the maximum when I think I do not have tocarry the responsibil ity of possession !

But the ride in the twil ight was beyond the region ofhouses

,out among the foot—hills from which we could

look up to the higher mounta ins that were warming inthe l ight of the setting sun . Every line was toned toharmony

,and they seemed so ki ndly in sp irit

,taking

into their great comforting arms the las t rays of l ight tonurse to s leep in darkness ! And then

,with the dark

ness shielding us,but not without permit

,we drove into

orchards of apricots and oranges,and l ifting our arms

we gathered to ourselves the abundance which would bewildly extravagan t in the East , but here would not bemissed ! As the child longing for a candy house that hemight eat his way in and out

,behold we were in a house

of fruit and had but to eat open the doors ! And we didafter a while !Our church in Pasadena has been a conspicuous land

mark on the Pacific Coas t for many years,and its arms

of influence have reached out in many directions withhands ful l of sustaining strength and encourag ement toothers . Our whole cause in Southern Californ ia hascentered around this church

,which i s itself a constant

inspiration in the story of its origin and l ife . The Pasadena Church illustrates what a big-hearted and loya llayman can do in the extension of the fai th which has


come to be a part of his -own life . Father Throop whenhe came to Cal ifornia brought his Univers alism withhim ; he had found it good to l ive with and good to l iveby

,so when he migrated to a new place he not only

brought with him a supply for his own use,but enough

to divide with his neighbors . His was the vision of agr eat Church in the rapidly develop ing land to which hehad come ; he saw in anticipation the Southern Cal iformi a of to—day

,and he fel t the need of the Universalist

Faith in the unfolding,and therefore he with the help

of ministers of like vision established our cause . And itwas most fitting that our Convention Should recognize ,on this its firs t visit to the Coast

,with appropriate cere

monies the two . heroic names of Throop and Conger,

which are to stand in high places upon the roll of honorin our history .

These men had the true idea of missionary work ; theybuilt for the future

,they built with faith

,they knew the

principles of our Faith were essential to the development of the best civil ization

,and they made their con

tr ibution to the community welfare . They were wiseenough to establ ish a distinctive church . There was areason for the existence of th e Universal ist Church : itsupplied something no other church suppl ied ; the worldcould not get along without it . The church they builtdid not sprawl all over the lot

,being everything to every

body,

. i t stood for something,and they stood up in self

respect and compelled the respe ct of eve rybody . Wehave somethin g to learn from these fathers of ours .They were not bigoted

,but they were distinctive ; with

the broadest spiri t and the widest l iberality they stoodup in their own shoes and were honored in their dayand generation

,and their honor abides .


Now we have a new Univers al ist church in LOS An

geles . Its existence is largely due to the practical sympathy of the Pasadena church ' and other churches andpeople throughout the land who have swung into l ine un

der the masterful leadership of Dr . Nash and his forerunner and faithful helper

,Dr . Canfield . And this new

church will succeed just in p roportion to its distinct ivereason for success . It will stand to day for that trueliberal ity which loses i tself in service without sacrificingi ts own character . There is nothing bigger in the re

MEMORIAL TO FATHER THROOP AND DR . CONGER

l igious worl d than Universal ism ,it has room

,for all

truth and insp ires to all service,but if it i s to hold

anything and render any service,i t must have some

thing to hold it in and something with which to serve .

The opportunity has come to the Universal ist.

Churches on the Pacific Coast at this time,when the

rel igious l ines are.

unfixed and rel igious thought isranging wide in search of the truth

,to say to the world

,

in'

the l anguage of our real leader of to day,

“Here isthe best thing in sight,

” to say to the whole world ,“Be


hold,we bring you good tidings of great j oy which shall

be to all people,

” our unique message . We rej oice inthe fine record of our churches at Rivers ide and SantaPaula

,but we must look upon them not simply as results

of mi ss ionary endeavor,but as beginnings only of the

larger l ife there is yet to be . The time has come for ourChurch to grow,

and there is no better place than on thePacific Coast . We look to our Pas adena church to re

sume i ts leadersh ip to larger things ; we look to thepresent hour as crucial

,and with faith and confidence

we await its call of its new leader .

HOTEL MARYLAND PERGOLA


the career of these missions would reveal many storiesof cruelty and bloodshed

,yet this fi rst crude step to

wards civilization was a necessary step,though we may

wish it had been less harsh than it was . There are notraditions here of such wholesale brutal ity as that ofCortez

,who gloried in his “ rel igious ” work

,when he

drove together thousands of the Indians in Mexico andgave them their choice of being converted or burned atthe stake ! But without question al l kinds of pressurewas brought to bear upon the Simple natives

,not only to

be baptized,but to make generous contributions , and

eventually,under directi on of the fathers

,to build the

places of worship which the years have but ripened intheir beauty

,and establ ished as the enduring monu

ments of that early per iod of romance in the making ofAmerica .

The Spanish architecture of that early time fixed'

i t

self upon our South-west as the Colonial fixed itself uponthe Northeast . Each has endured

,partly because of

the artistic sense,and partly because of fitness to cl imate

and conditi ons . The pas sing of time has greatly refinedboth

,sometimes to the point of el imination

,but as there

remain old Colonial house s in New England strictenough to type to preserve the standards

,so these old

Miss ions stand as permanent models after which a greatdeal of the building of Cal ifornia i s shaped . And thisinheritance has given this corner of our country anartisti c touch which makes winning appeal to any onewith a bit of sentiment and imagination .

But we were out to see the past reincarnated , notsimply to look at and in and over th e beauti ful

'

old Mission building

,not simply to people the spaces with

imaginative figures , but to see the real men and women

EL CAM INO REALSAN GABRIEL MI S S IONSANTA CATAL INA


of the ancient time walking and speaking, loving andhating

,intriguing and asp iring, j ust as we do to day ,

only in strange accouterments and with cur ious speech .

A great amphitheater has been built right in theShadow of the old Miss ion

,and in this building which

seats several thousand people,and on an immense stage

,

the play is enacted which shows the three great steps‘of

progress,from “ The Savage Sensing the Approach of

His White Conquerors,

” past “ The Faded Mil itaryGlory of the Spanish Conquest

,to “ The Consumma

t ion of the Ever-l iv ing Faith in the Cros s of Christ . ”

We entered the enclosure and were directed to followEl Camino Real

,the ! ing ’s Highway

,which has been

created about the huge building,showing in facsimile

the series of Miss ions which,following the first estab

l ished at San D iego in 1 769, were placed at intervals offorty miles along the coast

,which became centers of

rel igious and mil itary influence and control . As wepassed along the highway we had a chance to reallystudy the different Mission buildings as they are to-dayin a more or less perfect state of preservation . Forthose old padres knew how to build for endurance , andit is doubtful if anywhere in Ameri ca the earl iest types

‘

Of. buildings are so well pre served , and many of themdate back nearly one hundred and fifty years . Groupedtogether as these Miss ions are with their geographicalsetting reproduced , though in miniature , an opportunitywas afiorded to get, within hal f an hour, a knowledgeof Cal iforn ia Missions which could not otherwise besecured in months of travel .And then we entered the auditorium

,which was dim

with a scarce twil ight l ight,and there discovered that

the way to see the outside Missions in true perspective

IN OLD MISSION DAYS 51

and coloring was through the open windows,and every

spare moment between the acts of the play was occupiedin feas ting the eyes upon most realistic p ictures ; whilewe were the guests of San Gabriel Mission , we were presented with all the others .To tel l the story of the play which has been based on

the wonderful book by John Stephen McGroarty ,

“ Cal iforn ia

,Its History and Romance

,

” adapted by theauthor himself

,would take too long . But beginning

with the scene at San D iego when the expedition fromMexico has reached a period of starvation and probableextinction

,the retreat is held back by the faith of Fray

Jun ipero Serra , who pleads for one more day’s delay

,

being sure that help will arrive,and when the day is

granted he goes to the‘hill-top to pray

,and all day long

he is at his devotions,while the others are preparing to

depart,and then

,in the last minute of the last hour

,the

miracle is performed,and up out of the sea

,seemingly ,

rises the rel ief Ship,and California i s saved . Then fol

low the other leading incidents,all set w ith fidelity

,and

each dramati c situati on unfolding its elf before us . Itwas a wonderful p iece of work and marvelously welldone

,and gave in a couple of hours

,to the thousands

who saw and heard,more of the history of the state than

could have been secured through years of study in theconventional school .

’

Many asked me how it compared with the Pass ionPlay at Oberammergau ; but they are not comparable .The Passion Play is a product of three hundred yearsof growth and training

,this Mission Play is as a mush

room beside i t. The former is on a vaster scale and isset in the Open

,while this i s enclosed . The former

appeals with peculiar power to the rel igious sensibil ities ,


the latter,while also Roman Cathol ic

,and clustering

about the church,is more histori c and romantic . But it

is good to have seen both,for after all the eye is the

widest Open door to the soul,and these mighty events in

the unfolding of our destiny as individuals and peoples,

entering thus,possess us in giving us a new possess ion

Of them .

Out of this afternoon amid the earl ier years of Cal iforn ia history, there comes to me the suggestion that asupreme opportunity awaits our own Church at itsbirthplace . To reproduce the “ miracl e ” of F atherJun ipero Serra is deemed worth the great expenditureof time and effort and money ; why should not we of theUniversal ist Church produce the not less miraculousincident of the landing of John Murray and his greetingby Thomas Potter and the birth of the Universal istChurch

,on the very scene of its enacting at Good Luck ,

N . J The year 1 920 will be the one hundred andfiftieth anniversary of the landing of Murray ; why maywe not have the entire event reproduced in a pageant ofsuch splendor as to attract the attention and attendanceof multitudes ! Think this over .

A PASADENA HOME

CHAPTER VI

SAN DIEGO AND ITS E! POSITION GEM

To touch the details of the After Convention Program

,

”as the period of pleasure was called , would

require that this series of sketches be extended,if not

beyond the abil ity of the writer,certainly beyond the

patience of the reader,and therefore

,assuming that

every hour was fi lled with interesting incident whichwas not fil led with rest

,a very few of the greater fea

tures are to be touched upon .

The visit to the San Diego Exposition was an afterthought . When the program of our days was completedit was found that we could have a day at the LittleExposition

,and from all reports such a day was not to

be missed without exceeding loss on our part . Furthermore

,the management Of the Exp os ition

,eager for our

attendance,set apart Tuesday

,July 1 3

,as “Universal ist

Day . Of necessity we must be there , and we were .

There is this to be said about any party on a tour,

that if it is well managed and no one changes his mindand wants something different

,there will never be any

trouble . But mostly we like to change our minds andmake new plans

,and then it is hard for us to understand

why it is that engagements at hotels and in sleepers cannot be broken in ~ Ameri ca as easily as scraps of paperare in Europe . Thos . Cook Son proved themselvesmost satisfactory managers

,and in a wide canvass of

53


our members since the return we have had but votes ofcommendation . The management even went beyondthe fixed requirements of the tour

,and so far as was

p ossible adapted the arrangements to the desires of theirguests . This San Diego trip was not included at fi rst

,

but when a vote by mail was taken indicating that abouttwo hundred wanted to go

,hotel reservations were

shifted to sleeper reservations,and we were enabled to

surrender our beautiful rooms at the Maryland on Monday night and take the midnight special to San Diego ,where we arrived in the early morning .

The Universal ist pastor of the Unitarian Church inSan D iego

,the Rev . H . B . Bard

,had been working all

the week with our people to get them to go,and he

arranged that the morning was to be Spent on a tour atPoint Loma

,the home of the theosophical cult of which

Madam ! atharine Tingley is the high priestess,not only

to see the fine buildings and grounds of this society,but

more,to take a voyage out into the Pacific on a sight

seeing automobile ! For Point Loma is a long arm of'

land proj ecting out into the ocean and forming oneboundary of the wonderful San Diego harbor

,one of the

finest in the world . From the hotel the route wasthrough the business section of the city and then theoutskirts

,where we saw the strange

,to us from the Eas t ,

but frequently beautiful homes of those who abide inthis semi - trop ical land . It i s about eight miles aroundthe head of the bay

,and as we swung across towards

our goal,the highland of Point Loma

,we got moving

p ictures of the city and the harbor,over which several

aeroplanes were fl itting,and across the stra ight l ine of

our v ision over the water,we could see the moving

target,drawn by a motor boat

,upon which the guns


fortunate or more beautiful for situation than San D iegoas viewed from the extreme of Point Loma . Right beneath us is the narrow entrance to the harbor

,which is

completed by another long point,this time of sand

,ex

tending from farther down the coast out to almost meetthe one on which we were standing

,and back of this is

the great harbor,perfectly protected and large enough

to float all the navies of the world—c ertainly what willbe left of them when the submarines finish their work !

Beyond the city are the plains, once a desert , now luxurian

'

t with fruit and grain harvests,and yet farther on

,

c lothed in the thinn est veil of mist,the San Bernardino

mounta ins . To the right there is the Pacific in all itsmaj esty of greatness

,for there is nothing to interrupt

the view until it reaches the end of our world,where sea

and sky blend in an indefinabl e l ine . Sometimes it issaid that there are islands to be seen far away

,but for

us there was nothing to break the fl ight of the imagination

,or to mar the p icture of vastness which we were to

carry back to the Atlantic coast .We drove back through the beautiful grounds of theSociety

,and were privileged to be guided by members

,

young men students,to

,though not into , the buildings

and into the upper seats of the gem of the collection,

the Greek Theater,where we questioned the young man

about the history and purpos e of the society,and got

very direct but hardly illuminating answers . Perhapsit is the mystic atmosphere of the place which took possession of us and stole away our senses

,but two things

impressed themselves upon meFirst

,that the whole thing was abnormal

,and second

,

that the abnormal , under skillful management , is aboutthe best paying article on the market ! Fourteen years

SAN DIEGO AND ITS EXPOSITION GEM 57

ago Madam Tingley,a disciple of Blavatsky in theoso

phy,took up this point of land

,then but a was te of rock

and sand and sage brush,and gathered about her a

group of people,many of them of superior intell igence ,

many of them with money,and Sh e has transformed the

desert into a garden,and set in it buildings of striking

architecture and decorated within—j udging from theone we were permitted to look into

,though a rope kept

our profane feet from the tessellated pavement—withan adaptation of Egyptian figures and mystic symbols.

There is a school for training young children , where itis assumed that the last person to be entrusted with achild is its own mother

,and a college for those of

larger growth,where the teach ing is all voluntary , and

yet it costs a thousand dollars to secure admittance .

NOW of course this i s all very superficial and probablyunfair

,but the point is that any strange

,and especially

freakish,thing if clothed in mystery

,and possessed of a

leader with the distinct note of authority,can command

the money to accomplish marvels . We are glad'

to havethe marvel s to look upon

,and we enj oy the good roads

,

and the beautiful flowers,but some of us are so consti

tuted that we can not enj oy that degree of self-surrenderto another and retain our sel f-respect

,which is of more

value than many temples .The shores of Point Loma on the Pacific side are

inexhaustibly picturesque,composed of a soft rock which

the tirel ess sea through the ages has carved into weirdforms which l ift their heads l ike gnomes above the waves

,

and scooped out recesses and caves which tempt the ohserver ’s imagination to people them with old Spanishp irates . But instead the American business man hastaken possess ion , and outside of the grounds of the Theo

CAL IFORNIA STATE BU ILD ING D IEGO E ! POS IT ION


Sophi cal Society,the baseball king

,A . G . Spaulding of

Chicago,is develop ing a great tract into a future play

ground for the n ation . And what Mr. Spaulding isdoing for that small section

,Mr . Spreckels is doing for

the whole city of San Diego, until it seems , on a super

fic ial view,that here i s being created a heaven for those

who have nothing to do,and have money enough to in

dulge themselves in idleness and receptivity ! There isanother View of San D iego

,which is the real v iew , and

the Board of Trade will be glad to tell you all about it ,in which we see the development of the ideal of the l ittlefarm well t il led

,and the l ittle home of large content .

San Diego quite made us captive by its charms of cl imateand scenery and products and people

,and if Brother

Bard will j ust l isten for the call of the Lord to someother promising field

,we prophesy there will be a pro

cession of candidates h itting the trail for the j ewel c ityof America !But the Exposition is the thing ! And ri ght at the

start,I want to say that the difference between the San

Diego Exposition and the others is just the differencebetween a. strawbe rry and a watermelon ! Both aregood

,but

‘

while there is more of the watermelon,—i t is

not a strawberry ; People have been wondering whySan Diego had an Exposition at the same time that SanFranc isco made its appeal to the world

,and the answer

i s that San Diego did not ; she had hers before San Franc i sco , and she will have it after

,and

,incidentally

,all

along the way . The San Diego Exposition is d ifferentfrom every exposition which has ever been since theworld began—i t never had a debt ! It opened on timewith everything in place and all paid for. It is worth atrip of three thousand miles to see such a phenomenon .


But there are other differences which are of even greatermerit which come as a continual surprise from the timewe enter the gate . The buildings are a distinct departure from anything ever before conceived . Thedominating idea l was to reproduce the elements of theold Spanish architecture with refined l ines and withadaptation to the practical needs in showing

,not simply

the products of the world as other Expositions have,but

more particularly the process by which they are produced . There is a radical diff erence between showinga pyramid of tea boxes and giving away sample sips

,

and showing a tea plantat ion growing and the stepsalong the way of gathering

,curing

,packing

, d i str ibut

ing and serving at the tea table . And so with otherthings ; proc ess

”has been the key word of San D iego

,

and as the marvelous buildings are mostly built to en

dure,and to serve as a perpetual World ’s Fair

,one is

led to study both the exhibition places and exhibitionsfrom a new point of view

,and to find a novel and endur

ing satisfaction .

San D iego had a great park,great in area, but a

desert waste,and then came the vision of its unfolding

possibilities,and to-day there is a miracle of transfor

mation,when a great mesa,which is Spanish for a high

plateau with abrupt sides,has become the site of an

ideal ized Spanish city,with nothing lacking to make it

complete . Whether we came to it up from the valleysnow clothed with every species of vegetation

,or over the

Puenta Cabril lo across . the canyon,we find ourselves

gradually enfolded into the mystic charm of a Spanishatmosphere

,and passing the gate and standing at the

head of E l Prado,the main street of the Exposition

,

with minds and hearts prepared,we look down the long


avenue with the expectation of a child at the openingof the Arabian Nights .Would it were poss ible to give some illuminatingdescription of these buildings

,but they defy the type

writer and court the photographer. And there i s sucha different sp irit about the whole scene ; none of theconfusion and rush and roar of the bigger shows

,but

just the right,sleepy

,leisurely

,meditative air which

takes the Spirit captive .

After our return from the drive of the morn ing,we

had scattered for luncheon before going to the Expos ition grounds , and so it happened that a l ittl e group offour Universal ists entered the gate , and , in duty bound ,bought a Copy of the daily program . We gla

‘

nced overthe features of the morning and then came to the hourof one -thirty

,and read

,

’ “Arrival of Special Party ofUnivers alists ! ” We looked at our watches , and it wasexactly

‘

one-thirty,and behold

,we were it ! We had ar

rived oh time ; we lifted our heads a bit higher andformed a procession of four

,and

,no longer walking

,we

marched down the Prado !What we saw would take a large vohime to tell , butere long the most consp icuous exhibit was the official

'

blue badge of the Universal ist delegates,who were ar

riving in ever increasing numbers,so that, in

'

the end,

Universal ist Day became conspicuous,and an officer of

the Balboa Guards,as the guardians of the publ i c peace

are called,approached

'

me with the rq'

Iest from hischief of an offic ial badge ‘

to file with the records of theExposition

,which request was gladly granted

,though

the demand for official badges had nearly exhausted thesupply .

Going down E l Prado to the Plaza de Cal ifornia,


pass ing the main exhibition buildings , al l of which arewor thy of continued attention

,we come to the gem of

the whol e collection,the Cal ifornia building

,which for

beauty and grace arid historic sentiment has never beensurpassed . It is the reproduction of an ideal ized Spanish cathedral

,with its massive tower with severe l ines

unti l the drawin g together for the sp ire begins , when it .

blossoms,l iterally l ike a gigantic yucca , in the most

el aborate yet always del icate ornamentation . And thefront of themain building, fearl es s in i ts novelty, showsan arched doorway wi th a mighty window above which

,

l ike the sp ire,is a trop ical garden grown in marble

,and

all this set against a background of perfect simpl i city .

Here one could l inger for days, not simply to see , but toabsorb grace .Across the Plaza i s the unique art galle ry , which

is of greater worth than the exhibit within,though there

are some good examples of histori c Ameri can paintings ,and not far away the Indian Arts building

,where are

gathered specimens of the handiwork of all the SouthernIndians .But I can not pause with each attractive spot .

i

Here

is marvel after marvel , all j oined by artistic colonnadesthrough which we can pass from one

'

to another withoutthe sun l ighting upon us , and through which one couldwander for a season and never exhaust the charm .

Perhaps there is noth ing more appeal ing than the concentration and consequent accessibil ity of. these exhibits .One i s not dependent upon artificial transportation

,and

yet it is p rovi ded in a novel form . Over the smoothpavements there is roll in g constantly the E l ectr iquette,

’

a l ittl e wicker electri c auto , hold ing two people , one ofwhom guides i t with a lever, as it dashes along at a rate

CHAPTER VII

EL CAM INO REAL

Not one of us left Southern Cal ifornia without regretthat we could not stay longer

,and we are assured that

some of the people,at leas t

,in Souther n Cal ifornia

,

regretted our going,but Itineraries are l ike the laws of

the Medes and Persians,and must be obeyed . And it is

fortunate that this i s so,for we have discovered that

thereby we are often blessed in spite of ourselves ! Theindependent traveler of independent means and independent time may see some things better

,and in the long

run,see all things best

,but for those of the common

human l imitations,there is no pl ace in all l ife ’s exper i

ence where co-operation so justifies itself,making pos

sible for most of us the otherwise impossible . It isirksome at times to be pulled away from satisfaction anddel ight

,because way back there months ago

,we tied

ourselves up to a schedule,and yet without the schedule

and all the far-reaching plans made in advance,we

should not have been there at all . Of course there mustalways be people who are will ing when the sled is at thetop of the h ill to get on and ride down

,providing they

can have the best seat,but who resent indignantly the

invitati on to help drag the sled up to the top ! We arealways sorry for them

,for they are missing so much of

the sweefn ess and l ight and worth of l ife . But we mustlearn this great l esson of co-operation in al l of our

64

‘EL CAMINO REAL 65

Church work if we are to win any conspicuous success ;team work i s the winning factor everywhere

,and that

means having a program and following it . In ourchurch life we have too often been guilty of breakingaway from the I tinerary which in more or less of wisdom has been made

,and sometimes adopted with splen

did enthusiasm ; some of us who have voted for it have

A PAC IF IC BEACH

been the first to violate it,and too often it has been true

that long before the Itinerary could be carried out,we

have with enthusiasm laid it on the shelf and adoptedanother ! There is a very big lesson for us to learn inthis great Pilgrimage

,and if we learn it

,the price we

have paid for the school ing will have been well spent .This homely homily was suggested to me at the close

of our sessions in Pasadena,when having seen how

,by


al l working together,we had made the impossible pos

s ible,and held a successful convention thousands of

miles from the centers of our strength , and we had allhad such a very good time ; and when we summed up theresults

,ind ividual and collective

,they were all due to

our working together for a common purpose,each mak

ing l ittle or big sacr ifices of personal tastes and desiresfor the common good . And so we faced the next eventin our Pilgrimage , the meeting in the Exposition at SanFrancisco

,

'

with more of equanimity . There had beenmany anxious hours spent over that meeting

,by the

committee,it was a serious question as to whether we

could hold our people together for an occasion so portentonS

,but after our experience with the big conven

tions,we were turning our faces to the north with more

of confidence,and yet not without perturbation , for to

fail to measure up in numbers and dignity to an occasionof such possibil ities would seem like a disaster. But wewere away to the field of our opportunity

,as in the early

morning our “ special ” pulled out of Los Angeles forthe all -day trip to San Francisco .

It i s rather hard to d efine the bounds of SouthernCalifornia

,for the atmosphere of that o del ectabl e land

enfolds one through a long day ’s j ourney , and onlypass es with the day

,when we climb over and plunge

through the mountains about San Luis Obispo out of thedayl ight and into the dark

,and still i t l ingers in beauti

ful memories to make fragrant the years to come .One of the charming features of this whole tour was

the unfailing variety ; each stage of the j ourney wasdiff erent from every other, and while we might have achoice of one over another as a matter of personal taste

,

yet when the c ircle of our fl ight was compl eted , no one

“EL CAMINO REAL” 67

could omit from the experience any incident , withoutmarring the whole . The fert ile plain s of the Mis sissipp iand M issouri valleys

,the deserts of Utah and Nevada

with their weird charm,the Southern mountains dwell

ing in an atmosphere of romance,then the new Garden

of Eden where amidst flowers and fruits,and never a

serpent,we were snfi ered to dwell for eight precious

days,unti l the angel of necessity drove us forth , to the

marvels of the Northland with its crags and glaciersand j ewel lakes . No

, we can not spare anything fromour glorious summer.

Those sun-l i t hours bes ide the sea on the Coast L inewill be treasured

,because of their own worth and be

cause they were d ifierent. We were a reunited familyit seemed

,for while we had been together at the hotel ,

yet we had sort of got the train habit,and enjoyed the

renewal of the freedom of,for the time be ing, owning

a whole train of c ars . And there were n ew things tosee . In half a century a new world has been created onthe Pacific Coast

,and every curve Of the railroad brings

to v iew new scenes,so novel and so beaut iful

,that our

eyes are whirled from side to s ide,seeing much , yet con

scious of missing more .We of the East are wont to th ink of California as theGolden State

,

” because of her contribution of gold tothe world ’s wealth

,but while that metal may have been

her commercial beginning, i t was l ater discovered thatthe golden fruit of the orange tree was a more valuablepossess ion , and even whi le the adventurous people whocrossed the Rockies and the Sierras were enrich ing themselves with these products

,another

,even greater

,was

waiting the call to service . There i s a striking contras t,

almost shocking,along this route ; from within the


closely built Section of the city of Los An geles itself ,twisting here and yon among the hills

,crowding close

’

to fine residences and pushing into the harvest fieldsand orchards

,down to the sea and really out into the

sea , up as far as Santa Barbara , there is an ever en l arging forest of derricks with their sl ow and ponderouslymoving pumps

,l ifting to the surface each year more

than one hundred mill ion barrels of petroleum,of more

than double the value of the gold called from the mines .Think Of it ; one hundred mill ions of barrels of oil !Some grease spot ! No wonder that California sl ideasily into wealth ! But to us these dirty and smellyderr icks broke the harmony of the view . And yet Iwonder if our artisti c sense would have been so shockedif we had been possessed of a good block of stock in thosehumble wells ! But we enj oyed the unique experienceof seeing oil pumped out of the sea

,outdoing our Yankee

speculator of a few years ago who failed in his effort to

get gold from sea water ! But beyond the derricks andthis side of the gold mines there were other and finersources of income ; in Ventura County they are said toproduce more beans than Boston

.

can consume,and all

the way north to where Southern Cal ifornia ends , wherever that may be

,each spring the almond and apricot

and prune trees turn thousands of square miles into onevast flower bed

,and later pour another golden flood into

the laps of these for tunate Cal ifornians !But do not fancy that all are fortunate

,save in the

fact that there are no cl imatic demands for clothing andshelter such as we know in the East ; there are those who

are poor and thos e who are sick , and once in a greatwhile some one dies

,but on the whole Cal ifornia is a

“EL CAMINO REAL ” 69

very good place to visit,when you have friends

,a very

good place to l ive,if you can afford it , and quite as

good a place to die as any I have yet discovered ! Butsome one suggested : “ If only it was not so far away ! ”

And I thought,So far away from what , and where !

Isn ’t it curious how like we all are to the boy in the storyI once heard James T . Fields tell to the boys at TuftsCollege . This boy l ived in a l ittl e seashore town waydown in Maine

,and in the summer there came to the

town a young man from New York,who because of his

clothes and superior a irs made himself conspicuous,and

one day he met the small boy and,with much patronage

,

patted h im on the head,saying

,Ah

,me boy

,and where

do you l ive ! ” And the boy answered ,“ In that l ittle

red house up on the hill,

” and then trying to be equallypol ite

,he asked the young man where he l ived . The

young man lifted his head haughtily,and with evident

pride answered , Oh,I live in New York City ! ” The

small boy gazed upon him with p ity f or a moment,and

then said,

“ In New York City ! I shouldn ’t thinkyou ’d l ike to l ive so far away ! ”

That day along the Pacific was a reversed movingpicture Show

,that is

,we were moving and the p ictures

were stationary ! But it is a genuine'panorama al l the

way . So near does the track run to the ocean that fromthe car window

,with a moderately long rod

,one could

troll in the surf for yellow ta il,though he would stand

more chan ce of catching a kid who was in bathing ! But

there are some views which will long remain with us,of

sandy beaches and picturesque rocks and a glorious surfinviting to a plunge .

What a land to motor through,with the time to stop


at all these charming towns,each with its own pecul iar

attractions,and some with histor i c values

,for we are

following “ El Camino Real,

” the “! ing ’s Highway ”

along which more than a century ago the SpanishFathers built their Missions , and some of these can beseen from the train

,but whether seen or not as we pas s

through the town,we can recall them from the facsimile

we so recently looked upon at the San Gabriel Miss ionPlay, and see the setting of San Buena Ventura, SantaBarbara

,San Luis Obispo

,San Miguel , San Carlos and

others . Some of our party were fortun ate enough tocome on ahead of our train an d have a li ttle t ime atSanta Barbara to see this beautiful c ity and -especiallyinteresting Miss ion .

All through the day we rode along just far enoughabove sea level to be out of the way of the surf

,until

,

late In the afternoon,we came to San Luis Obispo

,

where a spur of the Coas t Range pushes smartly out intothe sea

,and blocks the way for those who can not cl imb .

But the train without a pause begins to cl imb , and inthe next thirty miles

,through tunnels

,and creep ing

al ong ledges from which there are most entrancingv iews

,we rise six hundred feet

,and then in the next one

hundred miles we plunge down again almost to sea level .There are few finer bits of mountain scenery than thisone hundred and thirty miles, just before , for us , thenight shut down

,and what we saw of Monterey

,and

Santa Cruz , and the big trees , and Leland StanfordUniversity

,we saw by Special excurs ions out from San

Francisco . But many took advantage of our time andabstracted a day from the Fa ir, to see the beauties ofDel Monte

,and the Santa Cruz big trees , which , while

not equal to the Mariposa grove , are yet big enough to

72 A CALIFORNIA PILGRIMAGE'

find it already oc cupied by three other good and substantial single ladies ! And then there is the sad ex

per ien ce of a mos t dignified minister from Massachu

setts,who secured his key and was escorted by the bell

boy to his room only to find it occup ied by two ladies,

who cruelly,he said

,refus ed to let him in . He returned

to the l ine at the desk and ultimately secured anotherkey and another bel l boy

,but alas

,this room was also

occupied by a lady,and he sorrowfully wended his way

again to the ofli ce,to be sent to another room

,but the key

would not go in the lock and excited voices told him togo away ! He was getting weary and discouraged bythis time

,so in desperation he proposed to compromise

,

but his p roposition was v igorously rej ected,and he

turned for the fourth time to the offi ce and was seen nomore til l breakfast time

,when he refused to make any

explanationsTwo ladies secured a room most fortunately early in

the game,and though they noticed a large val ise in it

thought nothing of it and went to bed , to be arousedsome t ime later by a knocking at the door and a man ’svoice claim ing the room

,but the ladies were stubborn

,

and told him to go away, as they had gone to bed andwould not be disturbed . SO he went away . The nextday the ladies went to the Fair and were gone until lateat night

,and on their return found their door locked

,

and a man ’s voice refused them entrance . They insistedthat it was their room

,that they had occupied it the

night before,but the voice sl eep ily replied : “ I kn ow

you did,you had it last night and now it ’s my turn

,and

I am going to have it to night ! ” He was a “ regularat the hotel

,so new arrangements had to be made .

“EL CAMINO REAL ” 73

But all things came right in the end,and after a good

breakfast the next morning,the sun shone on San Fran

cisco,the Exposition

,and on our plans which hastened

towards the cl imax of“ Universal ist Day .

”

COURT OF PALM S

CHAPTER VI I I

SAN FRANCISCO THE PHENI !

He who goes to San Francisco to see the Expositionand misses seeing San Francisco itself has sacrificed an

opportunity,for among the cities of the world , this child

in their mids t appears as a prodigy of daring enterpri se ,magnificent achievement

,and heroic ideals . To those of

us familiar with the old city before the great fire,the

new seems but the fabri c of a dream,for , with the knowl

edge that within a few years that whole vas t area hadbeen swept clean by the flames , the glory of the new inall its substance an d beauty

,throbbing with healthful

and happy life,gives a new definition to man ’s mastery

of circumstances .I sat in Union Square in c ompanionsh ip with one of

our ministers from a prominent church in the Eas t,and

who has traveled nearly the world over,and he told of

standi ng on Nob Hill shortly after the great fire,and

looking out over the black desolation of what had be enso recently a proud city

,and he said it was inconceiv

able to him how it could be poss ible to make the city l iveagain

,and yet, he continued , to day there is hardly a

trace of the disaster ! All about us rose spl endid buildings of modern design and construction , through streetswith excep tionally fine pavements ran a system of carsunequaled in Ameri ca

,largely under the ownership of

74

SAN FRANCISCO THE PHENIX 75

the municipality,and scattered over the city were doz

ens of such beautiful parks as the one in which we weresitting. The whole thing was .marvelous in our eyes,and it was .to be counted among the chief attractions totake the sight-seeing tour which was provided in ourit inerary.

But while we sat in the beautiful l ittle park by thefountain

,we talked of other things

,of our recent Con

vention s and of the future of our Church , and our partin making that future

‘

what i t’ShOuld

‘

be . We might nothave large influence

,but that did not matter, we were to

do our part to set our Church on its way under new condi tions .

'

The old had pas sed away, we were no longerstraining against the current of opposition , but so rapidly was the rel igi ous World being swept along in thedirecti on of our ideals that there was danger of our beingswallowed up in the flood ! Surely a glorious death todie

,but

,far better

,a glorious time to l ive ! But what

was to be our mission ! We had just come from theFirst Congregational Church , where we had been to worship and to hear Dr . C . F . Aked , having real ized thatthis church and its pastor are consp icuous features ofthe l ife-of San Francisco .

We had found there a vast auditorium seating thousands

,and yet before the serv ice began so filled was it

that one of us must needs be seated on the steps in thegallery

,together with many others , And we had joined

in a plain and simple serv ice,and l istened to a sermon

nearly one hour i n length which held the attention sothat not one of the thousands moved . It was whatwould be called a Gospel sermon

,with

.

the dominanceof Optimism and confidence an d an appeal for personalreligion as the essential factor in the throbbing l ife of


the city and the state,and the hope of humanity . After

wards we spoke with Dr . Aked , introducing ourselves as“ Universal ists from the East

,

” to which came the i h

stant response from the preacher,

“ and I a Universal istof the West . ” And that i s what he is in his thinkingand preaching ; though not j oined to our Church hestands there at the head of the greatest congregation inthe city

,a heroic figure

,fearlessly proclaiming h i s con

v iction s . Later I heard Dr . Aked again when he presided over the World Congress of Religions which washeld at the magnificent Civic Center of the city . ThisCongress was molded after the World Congress of Rel igions at Chicago , but did not approach that historicgathering either in numbers or dignity , but it was as ignificant gathering of representat ives of the “ Philosophy of the Great Rel igi ons of the World . And Dr .Aked was chosen to preside over the opening meeting ,and the announced title of h is inaugural address was ,“ The Faith of a Universal ist . ” His definition of theterm Universal ist was ours in a very general way , butnot specifically . He was to introduce the representatives of the world ’s rel igi ons and they were to tell thethings they stood for

,to outl ine their philosophy , and

Dr . Aked spoke as a “ Universa l ist“

among them , recogn izing and accepting the good of all , and the thoughtthat the Universal God had spoken to His children univer sal ly . In this gathering there were to be no subdivisions of the great divisions , so distinctions betweendifferent sects were lost in the larger views of the wholebodies . There was a cathol icity and genuineness in Dr .

Aked’s address which would have seemed to set the seal

of the sp irit of fellowship between those who“stood for


what is good and true,but it is unfortunate that par

tisanship flamed in some of the addresses . But thisbig Englishman with his broad faith and hear ty fellowship has commanded the city and is a tremendous powerfor righteousness .And this man and his work reveal that there is agenerous hearing and support for a Christianity thatis l iberal and Christian

,and while we rejoice in h i s

mighty achievement in winning thousands,there are

many more thousands in this city who are astray re

l igi ously , awaiting the message of the Universal Gospel ,and making their silent appeal to us who have this Faith ,to come and distribute to them .

We should have a great church in San Francisco ourmeeting at the Expositi on

,of which you are to hear

l ater,demonstrated that . Several times Dr. Shinn

made an attempt to start a miss ion here , but his cfiortswere fruitless because they were not big enough ; onemust make a great deal of noise to attract the attentionof so big a city. Over in Oakland we had a churchbuilding and a society . Many a year ago I preachedthere to a good congregation on one Sunday

,when no

regular service was being held but the church was

opened for the occas i on . And there was the nucleus fora l arge and flourishing church

,which would eventually

have reached over to San F ranei sco, but it was a case of

which we have so many,of not holding on

,and eventu

ally we los t both the society and the building . Had weretained possess ion of the building we should now be ina position to revive the cause

,for since the great fire

across the bay,Oakland has Sprung into marvelous l ife

,

values have gone soari ng,’

and instead of being a suburb


of San Francisco i t is a great city of itsel f,and becom

ing greater every day.

When I think of what we might have done in missions,

and what we could do to-day if we were all possessed ofa sane but i rresistible missionary spirit

,I feel that this

Pilgrimag e , which has revealed that when we really wanta thing

,a very few of us can raise one hundred and

fifty thousand dollars to get it,should give us a new

self-respect,and stir our ambition to take our place

among the l iving forces for the advancement of thetruth of Christianity . If we really wanted to place achurch in San Francisco

,as a few of us wanted . to go

there,we could do it ; i f we really wanted toplace our

Gospel of Good News at the disp osal of the world whichneeds it above all other needs

,we could and would do it .

We have the forc es,we have the money

,we have the

numerical strength to make this next year memorable inthe upbuilding of our Universal ist churches at home

,

and the planting of new churches in many of the growing centers of population throughout the great West .No other church can do our work for us

,we are called

to se rvi ce . The Opportunity is now ,and every Uni

versal i st minister and every Universal ist layman is summoned to duty .

But I have been carried away from my specific themeof tell ing about San Francisco , by discovering what Dr .Aked is doing with our Gospel .San Francisco is a museum of places of interest

,but

I can p ick only a few choice specimens . In the oldendays the feet of the tourists turned instinct ively andfirst to Chinatown

,and it was not surprising

,for that

se ction presented to the American the one bit of nu


life un der what are,to us

,unl ivable conditions . It is

an ad venture worth the sacrifice of time and strength,

and fraught with l ittle danger unless one penetrate toodeep into the intricacies of the celestial l ife !

It is curious how we look wi th wonder,and sometimes

with disgust , upon other members of the human race ,just be cause they are d ifierent ; we are thinking that ourways are better

,and they are for us

,but it is no farther

from our gate to theirs than from theirs to ours,and

we are not quite sure we know and have all the best yet,

else we should not struggle so ! But we must admirethe courage and faith of the missions from ChristianChurches which push into the very heart of this foreignlife

,hop ing to impl ant a few seeds of the Christ sp irit of

l iving together,however diff erent the dress and outward

circumstance .To pass from the herding of the Chinese to the open

of Golden Gate Park,is l ike going from gloom to day

l ight,but the transition can be very gradual if we will ,

for we can climb up to the new “ swell ” residential distr i ct at the top of Jacks on and Washington Streets , andpass by some of the most strikingly beautiful homes inthe world

,but the march of years will sweep them away

in time,out into San Mateo County and over to Berke

ley,for more and more are people with the help of rap id

transit once more becoming rural in tas te and prac tise .

But the homes are there now and crown the hill withbeauty

,while beyond is the mighty region of comfort in

the miles on miles of none the less homes,though housed

in less of magnificence .An d then we come to the Park . Like everything else

in San Francisco,it is unique . There was nothing in

SEAL ROC ! SFOUNTA IN OF ENERGYAVENUE OF PALM S


this great area of over one thousan d acres to be preserved save the contour of the surface ; it was a waste ofsand and scant underbrush

,

'

a field for the f arti st ofimagination

,and almost beyond belief is the transforma

tion wrought ; here are roads , ideal roads , winding roundabout and over the hills

,each turn disclosing landscape

effects which charm the beholder. Flowers in thiscountry need to have a different definition ; we of theE as t judge of them as things of a season or of the hothouse

,but here they run riot

,and seem to laugh in the

very j oy of growing,and through this wonderful park

,

the lover of flowers is sure to have new,many new sensa

tions of del ight . Here,too

,are the Museum with its

more than one hundred thousand exhib its,and the

Academy of Sciences for those of studious turn,while

for the children of few or many years,there are play

grounds of every description ; there are founta ins andlakes ; in every approp riate arbored niche there is ap iece of fine statuary

,and through all the long drive or

l onger walk,it is a game of hide -and-seek with beauty

,

until,at the end

, ,we face the broad Pacifi c Ocean , and

just around a corner the famous Cliff House,from which

we look down on the Seal Rocks,where of old and in

moderation now the . seals rolled and barked and whinedin the fulfill ing of their ideas of l ife

,an d incidentally

gave pleasure to the spectatorBut

'

our ride carries us on around through the LincolnPark and the Mil itary Reservation , into the PresidioReservation

,where we look down from the cl iff s through

the Golden Gate and across to Mount Tamalpais,then

on down the descent,through verdure hung roads

,until

we come to the high walls beyond which rise the towers


and domes and minarets of the gem of al l World Expositions

,and a moment later we are set down at the Main

Entrance Gate,and the lure of the vision within is not

to be resisted .

THEY CALL IT A TEA HOUSE

CHAPTER IX

E! PLORING THE E ! POSITION

The brill iant young aviator,Mr. Smith

,who cavorted

about through the air above the Exposition daily andnightly

,tempting the dislocation of the necks of thou

sands of innocent spectators,enj oyed some unique pri v

i leges to offset the risks he took and the dangers he encountered . It must have been worth a good deal to get ,in one comprehensive view

,the marvelous p ictures of

this City of Marvels,which has been called into being

to l ive its brief,butterfly -l ife

,and then to disappear ,

leav ing but a memory . Mostly visitors were enabled tosee it only in sections

,though from some of the hill-tops

of San Francisco those who were not able to get a moreangelic v iew could look upon

,approximately

,the whole

scene which this latest,i f not the last

,World ’s Fair

,has

unrolled‘

beside the waters of the bay,and just within

the Golden Gate . And we who saw it thus looked uponone of the fairest p ictures man has ever created . It isastonishing how much of the esthetic and the romantichas survived the material isti c spirit of the age ; .fifty

mill ions of dollars were raised out of the commercialand governmental interests

,to be expended in such a

way as to attract people enough to insure a reasonablereturn . And then these commercial speculators , withtheir wise knowledge of human nature

,invoked beauty

,

and art,an d music

,and the most extravagant fancy of

84

EXPLORING THE EXPOSITION 85

the human mind,with which to lure attendance . We

call this a util itarian age,but the most striking feature

of the Exposition,that w hich remains most fixedly in

the consciousness of those who have seen it,whether they

like i t or not,i s the Tower of Jewels

,and yet it is en

ti rely useless ,—except to look at ! This must be said ofso much that is here : pictures , and statuary , and colon

PALACE OF HORTICULTURE

nades,and arches

,and pinnacles

,and minarets , and

domes,and fountains

,and flowers

,and fireworks

,and

flags,and frivol ity ! Is it not as tonishing that these

hard headed business men ” “waste ” so much moneyon “ such foolishness ” ! Or is it not poss ible that mostlywe have turned life end for end

,and lost the real things

while trying to gather that which becomes of value onlywhen it is transmuted into the esthetic ! Of course this


Exposition is primarily for the exhibition of the materialachievements of the age

,and we shall find them all

there,but the one thing which will abide , and make this

Exposition distinctive among all the others,i s the unity

and beauty and harmony which we shall try to retainin p ictures

,but which must ever be elusive as l ife .

It has been my fortune to have seen all the greatExpositions since the Centennial at Philadelphia . I hadmy doubts whether it was wisdom which conceived ofanother for San Francisco

,for it seemed to me that we

had already reached the l imit of ingenuity and abil ity,

and must simply repeat,but I under-estimated the ca

pacities of man , and came here to find something new,

and to discover that a new standard had been fixed,

which is sure to discourag e any immediate attempt toachieve . Of course the exhibits of products can notchange very much

,save in new adaptations and increase

in quantity . Resolved back to beginnings,everything

we produce must have for its obj ect either to feed,clothe

,

instruct or amuse man ! I t was the same back in ’76

at Philad elphia , the same at Chicago , Bufialo and St .Louis

,and at every county fair . There are new forms

of food and new styles of clothes,but they are still food

and clothes,and that is all . There are new method s of

instruction and attempts at amusement , but in naturethey are the same . We see progress along some l ines

,

but never away from the fundamental s . So to one whohas seen al l the exhibits for nearly half a century

,the

display inside the buildings at San Franc isco brings ameasure of disappointment . But it should be remembered that the vas t maj ority of those who are l ookingupon these exhibits

,are themselves new exhibits ! That

is,they are new l ives

,looki ng through new eyes , upon


feet is foreign,not connected with any one foreign na

tion , but rather a composite of the dreams of all ihstead of the reality of any . And yet it is American

,for

while the fixed l ines of art control,yet the combination

is new , and to that extent it is a new creation .

In the foreground the whole sp irit of the E xpositionis embodied in the “ Fountain of Energy , where , on theSphere of the earth supported by the waters of the sea ,

COURT OF THE UN IVER SE

stands the triumphant Victor,symbol izing the con

quest of earth and the bringing of the seas together .Here is a whole exhibition in this single composition .

SO numerous and so varied are the statues,each tell ing

its story and making its contribution,that hours could

wel l be spent in contemplation of this maj estic work'

of

art. And yet , while I looked , and looked again , I noticed how many thou sands of peop le looking over and


around passed on without having seen,and when later

I questioned a seemingly wide awake visitor,I was told

that he had never seen this p articular f ountain thoughh e had passed in at that gate four t imes , and out asmany ! That is the way with most of us ; some thingsare too close to us to be seen

,and

,again

,are ecl ipsed

by others far less worthy . We live with great peopl ein our own homes and never know them

,because they

are so close,or because of the gl itter of our neighbor

who sparkles just over the fence !But

'

even while I criticise my fellow v isitor becausehe did not see my fountain

,he is very apt to put me to

confusion because I missed entirely some Court or Avenue or Lagoon where he found del ight . After all , weare mostly fool ish

,or at least have our foolish spots !

We find some choice bit of l ife and lose ourselves in it ,and a great big world of delights remains undiscovered

,

and we are very apt to resent the different tastes ofanother who goes exploring paths which to us are unfamil iar . And so it i s well that the Exposition is so

vast and varied,for each can have pleasure after his

kind,. and none may monopol ize the whole .

I saw a great deal , and yet I am continually hearingof the things I d id not see

,and the chances are if I were

to tel l of all the things which came within my range,

yet would one of our own party arise and prove mypoverty because of something I missed along the way .

The courts about which the buildings are groupedare striki ngly beautiful

,and each affords a restful and

refreshing stepping place , for in each , after its own pecul iar genius

,are displayed works of art of real artistic

and historic worth . Surrounding them all are colonnadesmajestic in their s ize and beauty, and whether we l ook


from without to the within,or from the within to the

without,or sit in contemplation of the beauties enclosed

,

there are few instances in the world where a gracefulthought has found a more graceful embodiment . Inthe three central courts

,that of “ The Universe

,

” whichis the heart of the whole scheme

,' the Court of the Sea

sons,Or the Court of Abundance

,in which last the Cele

bration of Universal ist Day was Observed , we are impressed with the magn itude and the consistent workingout of the thought of the artist . Looking upon theA rch of the Rising Sun

,which forms one side of the

Court of the Un iverse, . we see a creation which is impressive in its maj estic proportions

,and is crowned with

a. group of statuary representing the approach of theNations of the East coming to greet the Nations of theWest

,which occupies an equally consp icuous place on

the other side,while in the center there is a fountain

,or

rather a group of founta ins,of such vast detail of sculp

ture and ornamentation as to forbid description , andfrom this center we look out past the exquisite Columnof Human Progress , and over the bay , to the real mountains miles away

,but all so softened by the mists

,as to

blend into a picture of rare beauty .

But we al l had our favorites among the creations ofthe fa iryland

,and mine was the Palace of A rt

,which

i s not surpassed by anything in this country,nor in

Europe so far as my experience goes . A little apartfrom the more materi al interests very appropriately

,and

separated by a beautiful lagoon,surrounded by a lux

ur iance of vegetation , a structure has been erectedwhich

,while indebted to the Temple of the Sun at old

Athens for suggestion,is yet ~ one of the most original

conceptions which has taken material form . The build

ROUND ABOUT THE FA IR


ing takes the form of a half circl e over one thousand feetin length with an impressive entrance at the inner center, which faces a rotunda of splendid p roportions onthe very brink of the lag oon . The circle is followed bya colonnade of such proportions

,in height and sweep

,

as to surpass anything of the kind ever before attempted .

Each Corinthian column is in itself a marvel,but all

together form a highway so awe- inspir ing that even thecareless must approach the door to the art exhibit withreverence . At the foot of each column

,and wisely

placed amidst the shrubbery,which is trop ical in its

profusion,there ‘ are innumerable statues

,so that the

visitor is enjoying art before entering its palace . I havenever found anything in the way of a building

,in al l

my world,so thoroughly satisfactory

,furnishing such

enduring enjoyment,as this Palace of Art

,and it fi l ls

one with sadness to think that within a few months itmust pass with all the lesser charms of the Exposition

,

and be no more .

Of the exhibit within , I have not the space or the ability to wri te

,other than to say that there is a very marked

difference between this disp lay and those in formerWorld ’s Fairs

,for the war in Europe has l imited the

contributions of many of the countri es ri ch in art whichhave heretofore been most conspicuous . However

,mos t .

of the countries have made a brave attempt,and the

collection of foreign works is of great merit . But. theconsp icuous eff ect of the les sening of foreign exhibitshas been to give room for and encourage probably themost extensive showing of American art which has everbeen made

,and we must be proud of our nation ’s

achievements . Days and even weeks could be spentwithin the spel l of this Palace

,but , as w ith most of the


visitors,time became a determining factor and crowded

me along to other attractions,perhaps

,in their way,

not less worthy .

As compared with other Expos itions , the San FranciscoFair is small in area

,which is greatly to its advantage ,

making it so much more accessible . But by the timeone has spent s ix or eight hours going about, even if hehas been as sisted on hi s way by the ridiculous l ittleWorm Trains which go creep ing about among thecrowds , affording a mos t practical means of transportation

,he wel comes the approach of darkness and turn s

his face towards the Esplanade,extending along the

shore of the bay,there to be one of such a multitude as

i s seldom seen,and watch the glorification of the whole

scene,in the nightly illumination .

I wish it were p ossible to describe this mas tery of l ightand shade and color

,with transformations on so vast a

scale as to be almost unbel ievable,but one can only give

a hint as a reminder to those who saw,and a suggestion

to those who did not . In the dayl ight the coloring of thebuildings is very restful and pleasing

,a rich cream

,with

just a suggestion of tint in more l iving color,a

‘

mostagreeable change from the glaring white to which wehave been accustomed

,but the modifying of the glare

hastens the effect of the darkness . With sixty thousandpeople

,coming from all parts of the world , a l ittle g roup

of us sat in the deepening twil ight and watched theTower of Jewels

,the massive walls of the buildings

,the

warships out in the bay,and at last the peopl e around

us,disappear behind the curtain of darkness

,and then

in a few minutes,ami dst a silence which commanded

us all,we felt rather than saw a soft glow of light reach

ing farther and farther through the colonnades,and

CALIFORNIA BU ILD ING

CHAPTER !

UN IVERSALIST DAY AT THE E! POSITION

Universalist Day at the Panama-Pacific Exposi

tion will be memorable in our history,and at least have

a place in the enduring records of the Exposition . Itwas a venture of faith which occas ioned many anxioushours on the part of the committee

,and questions a s to

its wisdom were raised by many who were able to appreciate not only its opportunity but its risks . A successwould mean much

,a failure might mean more !

To secure a“Day ” on the program

,certa in fixed con

d itions were to be met : In the first place the organization receiv ing the honor must

,on a set date and hour

,

appear in a body at the main entrance,to be met by

the officials of the Exposition,there to be photographed

by the offi cial photographer,then

,under the lead of the

Exposition band,to march in procession to the place of

meeting in the Court of Abundance . There,after

music by the band,an address of wel come to be delivered

by a Commiss ioner of the Fair,

'

to which the president ofthe organization is not only to respond in words ofcourtesy

,but to deliver an address

,reciting the history

and purpose of the organization,which address i s to be

in typ ewritten form,and fi led with the offi cials as a

part of the permanent records of the Exposition . Afterthis the order of exercises may be carried out

,with such

speaking and m1i si c as may have been provided .

96

UNIVERSALIST DAY ” 97

To meet these conditions in such a way as to dignifythe occasion an d do honor to the Church , at first seemedquite impossible

,for we have no local church in San

Francisco to furnish the nucleus for such a gathering.

We had taken something over three hundred from theEast to the Conventions in Pasadena

,but many of these

had scattered after the sessions were over,and others

had remained for a mere extended visit in the South , sothat only a part of our delegates were with us in thecity

,and to add to our d i scomfiture it was found that the

large party which was to return vio the YellowstonePark would be obl iged to leave early on our day

,as the

crowded condition of the Park would make it imposs ibleto secure accommodations otherwise

,so we were to lose

a large group of some of our most p rominent members .

It did not look l ike the gather ing of a very imposing“ body ” at the Main Gate ! And as for the procession

,

I was reminded of the l ittl e girl who,being invited to

some entertainment,said she could not go

,because her

“ club ” was to have a procession that day and she wasto lead it ! An interested friend asked

,

“ How many arethere in your club !

” and the small child answered,We

have a membership of three,but one is out of town and

the rest of us are going to parade ! ” What were we toshow in the way of membership ! The humiliating pi cture was presented to our imagi nation of the great Exposition band of thirty p ieces leading a process ion of adozen or two of Universal ists in observance of Universal ist Day ! I confess that my sleep on that Saturdaynight was disturbed ! If every Universal ist we knew ofin the city were to “ turn out ” we could not count onmore than two hundred

,an d we knew that some of these

would fail us . Our day had been well advertised in the


offi cial program and by the bulletins , and the committeehad Spent Some money and hard work with the newspapers

,and circulated announcements

,but we ap

proached thehour with trepidation .

COURT OF ABUNDANCE

It was not my p rivilege to witness the gathering atthe -Main Gate

,to be included in the offic ial photograph ,

or to participate in the procession . At the time I wasrather doubtful about the desirabil ity of fac ing the possibi l ity of humil iation , but since , I have been disposed


name, faith , history , work and purpose , and as I finished ,he said ,

“Why,I am a Universalist ! ” “ Then

,I said

,

you must wear our badge,

” and he took my officia lbadge and p in , and a few minutes later spoke his welcome as one of us .But presently came the sound of music

,and I looked

acros s the Court to the arch on the other side to see whatwas coming—would there be fifty or a hundred ! How Ihoped for at least one hundred and twenty to go with theeighty already seated . And then through the noble archswung the band

,followed to my amazement and j oy by

a noble procession . On they came , two by two, led bythe offi cials of the Exposition and the officers of our fourorganizations

,to the number

,by actual count

,of over six

hundred,and then came from all directions those who

were drawn by curiosity probably,or by the music

,until

more than a thousand people were present duri ng somepart of the long exercises .

Where did they come from ! I t was only after theexercises were over that I could answer

,but then there

came forward so many strangers to ask,

“ Is there anyone here from Bangor

,Maine ! I used to belong to the

Universalist Church in that city years ago . Now I l ivejust out of San Francisco

,and am so glad to see some

Universal ists again .

” Then another asked about someother place

,and so on and on

,until it was revealed that

these people who had j oined our procession really belonged to us . And here were hundreds of them from allover Central California who did not know each other,but who had seen the notice of the gathering of Universal i sts and came to again refresh their souls with thefaith once del ivered to the saints . What a revelation ofour losses t hrough failure to conserve our own ! What

UN IVERSALIST DAY

a revelation of present opportunity ! In hundreds ofplaces throughout the West

,we have the nucleus for a

church . And in San Francisco we should and must,in

the not distant future,have a church of suffi cient size

and dignity to command attention and proclaim an ef

fective min istry .

But the great audience was seated , the back of theplatform was fi l led with the musicians

,along the front

were ranged the Exposition Officials an d the officers andtrustees of our four organizations participating

,and

then the following program was carried out :Meeting called to order by the Rev . Lee S . McCol lester ,

S . T . D .,chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Gen

eral Convention . Singing of America,

” by the con

gregation ,led by the E xposition Band . Address of Wel

come by Mr . Charles A . Vogelsang,Commissioner of the

Panama-Pacific Exposition . Response by the Rev . Dr .McCol l ester

,with address on “

The Faith,History and

Work of the Universal ist Church .

” Music by the

Ladies ’ ! uartette , Miss Burns , Miss Pasmore , Mrs .Graham

,and Mrs . DeLong . Scripture Lesson and

Prayer, by the Rev. Dr . Wm . H . McG lauflin . Address,

Universal ism and Worldwide Problems,

” the Rev . Dr.Marion D . Shutter . Solo , Miss Althea Burns . Address ,“ International Pea ce ,

” the Rev . Frank Oliver HallD . D . Congregational hymn

,The New Age V ision .

Benediction,the Rev . Frederi ck A . Bisbee

,D . D .

Most of these addresses we have publ ished in the Un iversa l i st Leader . We regret exceedingly that we havenot a stenographic report of the word of welcome fromCommissioner Vogelsang . As an address of its kind

,

it was a work of genius . When we consider that tenminutes before its del ivery the speaker had tO confess


that he knew nothing of our church,we recall with con

stantly renewed amazement his comprehensive grasp ofour fa ith as the Gospel of Optimism

,and the fel i citous

way in which he connected our philosophy of the Universal wi th the universal purpose of the Exposition :And al l said in less than ten minutes . We who feel weare called to speak in publ ic on the stage need to takelessons from Commissioner Vogelsang in return for thelesson in Universal ism he so graciously took from us .We were fortunate in being able to secure

,through

Prof . H . B . Pasmore of San Francisco,the choir of

fine voices which aided so much in the rel igious services . And altogether, we can take great satisfactionin “ Our Day .

There were some disappointments,however

,and we

have some lessons to learn . I f we could only have knownin advance what the Day was to mean to us ; if we couldhave dreamed that s ix hundred people would seeminglyrise out of the ground to hear again; or for the first time ,the message of Universal ism

,the program committee

would have been a l ittle wiser in making Up its p rogram ,

not necessarily changing the speakers , but adding tothem enough others to have secured the outl ining in halfa dozen ten-minute speeches

,of our reas ons for being

on the earth ! We had a great opportunity and we didwell under the circumstances

,but we should have done

better. We did not know that a San Francisco fog, coldas Greenland ’s i cy mountains

,was going to sweep in

through the archway,when our meeting was about two

thirds over,but it did ! You may not know what a cold

San Francisco fog i s ! Well , to the del icate Easternconstitution it seems l ike the

,

l iquefy ing of the North


world ’s salvation . We do not kn ow our possibil i ties ,any more than the committee of arrangements kn ew thatsix hundred people would rise up out of the ground toworship with us on Universal ist Day at the Exposition .

The offic ial photograph , about a yard in length , is ofhistoric value . E xcellent in quality

,i t is well worth the

price of one dollar,showing as it does really fine por

traits of the hundreds who assembled to honor themselvesin honoring our day . In the front row appear about al lof the offi cers of our Conventions

,and the leading men

and women of our denomination .

Universal ist Day was the cl imax of our tour . Everything had led up to that

,and mostly our people had

kept in l ine,but it was curious -to see how there were some

who were timid , who did not dare to take any risk ofhumil iation

,and they kept out of the p icture

,and out

of the procession,and came in on the side a little later !

This is one thing we must overcome,this separateness

,

this exclusive sp irit which l ingers in the backgrounduntil others have won success

,and then seeks to come in

for a share ! But what progress we have made ! Neverhave we had such a record of faithfulness in attendingupon the sessions of the Conventions and the “ post-Convention

” meetings,even amidst such temptations to stray

as were never before presented . We glory in theachievements of the Pilgrimage ; we glory more in thenew sense of what we can do

,and what we are going to

do from now on .

Much that was done in the way of missionary workalong the way

,going and coming, has not yet been re

ported,and will not be until the General Superintend

ent tells the story,and when he does

,i t will occasion

surprise and j oy to know that when I have told the story

UNIVERSALIST DAY ’105

of the trip and of our Conventions,the half of the good

work has n'

ot been told . But for me there remains butthe pleasant task of returning the Pilgrims to theirEastern homes.

THE COLONNADE

CHAPTER XI

FAC ING HOMEW ARD

Had not my parents thoughtless ly refrained fromhaving tri plets when I was born

,it would have been a

great convenience to me when,at the dispers ion of the

Universal ist hosts the morn ing after “Universal istDay

,

” three parties took three d iff erent routes to theirEastern homes ! Manifestly I could not accompanythem all

,and as a matter of fact I did not accompany

any one of them,so at. l east I can occupy a neutral posi

tion in the confl ict of op inion which has arisen througheach party claiming it had the best time ! Generally Ihave found it the part of wisdom to agree with a re

turning tour ist,whether European or Am erican ; having

been one myself,I kn ow how diffi cult it is to get the

other fellow ’s point of view . Fortunately I am a sympathetic l istener to the tales of all these three parties ,because much of the ground traversed is famil iar to methrough going over it

,i f not by train

,then by post

card and railroad circulars ! And,by the way

,much

of the j oy of the modern traveler is dampened in thesedays by the fl ight of p icture postals which haunt himwith their truth tell ing

,when he is in a romancin g

m ood ! The returning traveler from an unkn own regionhas been under pecu l iar temptations to feed the eagerwondering of his hearers , not only with the things hereally saw

,but with those far greater wonders he im

106

THREE MOUNTA INSS IR DONALD

MOUNT TAMALPA I S MOUNT LOW E

FACING HOMEWARD 109

we are ap t to miss the greatest value of al l . Of courseevery minister who was fortunate enough to be of thechosen , is sure to get no end of sermons from what hehas seen

,and many of them ,

we fear,will get several

lectures ! Through all the years to come their sermonswill be enriched with illustrations gathered along theway

,and their conversation punctuated with

,When I

was in the West ! ” We can see and hear what they got ,but the real riches of the journey came to these youngpeople who were seeing for the firs t time

,who had not

yet put on the glasses of the critic,and who now , af ter

it is al l over,hesitate and stumble

,and cry out in their

despair,

“ Oh , I can not tel l !” Of course they

‘

can nottell ; their minds and hearts are l ike a jug too full topour ! But the wonder and worth are there , and will al lcome out in their develop ing l ife . They could only cryout ,

“ Oh ! ” and “Ah ! ” or,most impressive of all

,keep

s ilence,as they stood before the imperi al maj esty of one

of the mountains of the Lord ’s House,but the impres

sion on those mobil e souls will never die . There wasmore of genuine education for the young in the monthof experi ence

,than in years in the school room with l ife

and scenery at second hand .

It would have been a j oy to keep our group unbrokenand to share the thri lls of scenery through the Sierras

,

the Colorado Rockies,the National Park and the Cana

dian Rockies, but of course it was impossible within thebrief l imits of one month

,and therefore

,by dividi ng,

we could bring home a composite p icture to which eachcould make a contribution . And those on one routecould easily follow in imagination those upon another,and

,as I have intimated

,the unfettered imagination

serves to enrich real ities,and turn commonp laces into


extravagances . I had thought to gather from the returned pilgrims enough of detail s of all the j ourneys asseen through other eyes

,to make an interesting and com

prehensive account,but I presently found it was imprac

tical . When I asked one who had been through theCanadian Rockies for interesting incidents

,he said

,

Did you hear of the experience of one of our ministerswho grew eloquent over the splendor of the scenery , andtried to get some practise for his next lecture

,on an in

nocent and inoffensive native ! ” N O,I had not heard

,

and this is what he told : We had gone a l ittle asidefrom the beaten path

,and come into a deep valley

,or

canyon,

‘ or cooley , or whatever you may cal l it , wherethere was a l ittle log cabin

,with several small children

playing about,and a tough looking

,fiercely bewhiskered

man who,if not a native son ,

seemed to h ave al l themarks of the soil . He seemed kindly and commonplaceenough

,and cheerfully gave us a drink of water

,but

was a l ittle shy of information,and

,so far as we could

see,was wholly un impressed with the grandeur of the

mounta ins surrounding h i s home,in fact

,it almost ap

peared that he had never seen the splendors in themidst of which he was l iving

,and so it appealed to one

of our ministers,who is consp icuous for his eloquence ,

that the man should be enl ightened as to the richesamidst which he was privileged to l ive . And so he .

pointed to a maj estic peak and remarked upon its subl imity , and the native looked up to it as if see ing it forthe fi rst time

,and confessed it was a pretty big hill , and

the best place for berries in that section ! Und i scour

aged,the man of eloquence began again

,and waving h is

arms with comprehensive gesture , he asked i f _the glory


versal i st Church,a place no other can fi l l . And we have

learned some lessons which will be of the utmost valueto us in the future

,when we begin to do some of those

things and fil l some of those large places . We havelearned that the keyword to our success is co-operationin whatever we attempt ; that we must learn the lessonof self-sacr ifice

,the giving up of our own parti cular

hobby when it is for the general good , that we can dothese great . things only as we all j oin in and give ourselves to them . Of course we can figure out

,as some did

,

how they could do some things cheaper,and see some

things which they liked pretty well,by going away and

flocking by ourselves,but that is not the way the world

or a church or genuine happ iness moves forward . Wemust discover that . in things worth while, we gain onlyby giving. And we have had a great lesson in this el emental factor of success .And after learning our lesson , and enj oying our schooling

,we are going home to all its sacred associations

,but

with a larger v ision . And it remains for me but to takeyou by the most direct route

,but you can be assured

it is not without beauty and interest,and perhaps as

you must hear from others about the other ways , this onemay have the virtue of novelty . And as my group oftravelers was small

,and all are pledged to endorse what

ever I may say ,there are tempting divers ions to the

wooing of which I may not say nay .

The first trans-continental railroad was Opened whenthe golden Sp ike was driven which j oined the UnionPacific and the Central Pacific roads near Ogden , inUtah . That was a good while ago,

and at the time it didnot seem possibl e that there would ever be any need of an

FACING HOMEWARD 1 1 3

other l ine,but to day there are several roads which have

broken through the mountain barriers and tied the twoocean s more firmly together

,and these new roads w ith

their sp irit of enterprise have magnified to the travelingpubl ic the wonders and charms of scenery which theyhave unfolded

,and so the old “ direct route ” has been

somewhat obscured by the glory of the newer routes .But after having been over this route four times andover all but one of the other routes at least once

,I want

to say that if the Ogden route could ; be freed from thedisconcerting and disappointing snow-sheds through somuch of the trip over the Sierras

,i t need ask no favors

of the others ; even if the management would kindlyknock out a board on the l ine of the eye

,or hinge the

board so i t could be dropped during the summer,it

would add at least a million to its assets in its appeal tothe tourist . But as i t is

,one can enj oy playing hide and

seek with some of the world ’s grandest scenery . Wecome to it in such a natural and winning way

,when

,

after passing through the Sacramento valley , we begi n tocl imb up through the canyons , we watch the great worldunfolding below us

,and then plunge into a veritable

turmoil of rocky peaks and chasms,each turn opening

new scenes and wonders,until we are impress ed with

the mystery and magnitude of the handiwork ofGod .

It is an experience long to be remembered,to have

really cl imbed over a wide range of mountains,and you

get this experience in the Sierras as you can not in theRockies

,for there the approach is too gradual . Through

the dayl ight we cl imb up , we poise for a brief momenton the summit, and then plunge down , conscious al l the


time of the incl ine of the car,so steep is the ascent and

descent .Just over the summit at the queer

,wild western city

of Truckee,one feels the lure which draws one still

deeper into the mystery of the high places,to where rests

the brightest j ewel of the Sierras,Lake Tahoe : Mine is

but a memory-visit,but the memory remains as deep and

clear as the waters of the lake . How di d it happen ,this great body of water near the top of this maj esticrange of mountains ! Nothing attracts me quite so muchas lakes

,not simply because there are possibil it ies of

fishing,but because water: is such a near approach of the

material to the l iving,and in Tahoe water is at its best

—the great area of the surface surrounded by heavytimber to the water ’s edge

,and back farther the moun

tain peaks,often snow-capped in the midst of summer

,

unbroken through the circle of the horizon . And thenthe depths ! SO clear is the water that

'

the bottom is ascl early seen at seventy feet as the mountains throughthe rare atmosphere . I tried to compare Tah oe with thelakes in the East

,with those of Switzerland and Italy ,

but Tahoe is incomparable ; I bel ieve it is the most beautiful sheet of water in the world

,and for those who can

break the trans-continental j ourney with a few days onits shores or sail ing over its surface

,there is an undy

ing experience of beauty and satisfaction .

From Truckee there is a coast of hundreds of milesdown the Truckee River canyon and out on to and acrossthe desert of Nevada and Utah

,until we strike the Great

Salt Lake,asweird as Tahoe is beauti ful . This we cross

by the now famous Cut-off ” on which the tra in l iterallygoes to sea

,even .as it does on the ! ey West road off the

1 1 6 CALIFORNIA PILGRIMA

after talking for three hours,closed by s

not through,but I ’m done ! ” And I am

an attempt to follow stumbl ingly some ofgrims on their homeward way .

CHAPTER XII

THE JOURNEY I DID NOT TA ! E

So many of our people returned by the northernroutes , that this record would be incomplete were we not,in spirit at least

,to follow and Share with them the ad

ventures and j oys which seemed the culmination of thisremarkable p ilgrimage . To me much of the territorytraversed has been made famil iar through formerj ourneyings

,and so with the help of other eyes I shall

go again over old paths,and even into those that are new .

And after all,I shall only be doing what we are al l do

ing all the time ; it is such a l ittl e world we see and

kn ow until it is multipl ied and magnified through others .

The j ourneys I have taken through others going,the

things I have seen through others seeing,the things I

have known through others knowing, swell my own smallexperi ences into a l ife worth liv ing . And there i s yetanother advantage to the indirect method ; —we havethe unpleasant screened out while the good remains. Ofcourse there are bound to be some Shadows on every paththey were very real and very serious when they fell

on me—but so soon are they lifted that they seem neverto have be en

,and so when I see

’

through others ’ eyes andhear through others ’ ears

,if I choose

,my journey may be

through ways of pleasantness and paths of peace . AndI so choose .There are two ways north from San Francisco

,prob

1 1 7


ably more,but two ways generally chosen by travelers .

On e is by sea,and how well I remember my exp erience

on that voyage many years ago . It was just after thediscovery of gold in the ! londike

,and accidentally we

were caught in the mad rush which nearly overwhelmedthe first steamer to sail after the news reached San

Francisco . And we were in the rush ; our innocent pleasure tr ip . to British Columbia was rudely interrupted bythis scramble after gold . The ship was so j ammed withmen and mules and munitions that it was almost impos sible to move

,and to get to the dinner tabl e onemust

sit on the companion sta irs from breakfast time ! Butin sp ite of discomforts we came safely into port . The

voyage is diff erent to-day,and as I take it over with

some of our party,without the fret of buying tickets ,

and getting state -rooms and taking chances of being seasick

,I discover that the boats are bigger and better and

faster,and there is the excitement of a contest with the

railroad train,which in the valley just over the Coast

Range is speeding to Portland,and we get there in just

the same time .There is a bit of a thrill to the E asterner in being

afloat on the great Pacific“

Ocean,which separates us

from , and j oins us to , the mighty and mysterious Eastorn Hemisphere . We Shall never be quite so local again ;our horizon has been extended and all our standards ofj udgment must be reset . The waters of the Pacific donot differ greatly from those of the Atl antic , but even atwenty-four hours ’ sail upon them will shatter a lot ofour littleness . A wide view on the waters of a wideocean has a suggestion of the transforming power of awide view in theology

,and I am sure all our young peo

ple who have enlarged their horizon by this trip will be


more appreciative of the splendid l iberty and gloriousperspective of their Church .

But mos tly our party followed the scenic Shasta route,

and there is nothing better,however different . Very

often we make a mistake in comparing or contras tingscenery in stead of enj oying each bit on its merit . Themounta in that is fourteen thousand feet high may nothave the charm Of the one that is only ten thousand

,for

al l these measurements are from the sea level,and the

mountain of ten thousand feet rising directly from thesea

,as a matter of scenery

,is higher than the one of four

teen thousand feet,i f the latter i s only to be seen when

the observer is himself five thousand feet high before helooks . It all depends upon our point of v iew in judging mountains—or men .

There is a certain amount of satisfaction , whether justified or not, in having our prophecies fulfill ed . Whenthe pessimists were foretell ing our suffering from theheat in the south country

,I maintained that we should

suffer more in the north,and that is the way it turned

out,for the first really Oppress ive heat was experienced

that'

first night up through the Sacramento Valley andthe next day

,through the beginnings of the northern

mounta ins . But in sp ite of the Oppression , the panorama unfolding as the train sped on held the l iterallybreathless attention . Mount Shasta is the shifting center of all the p ictures

,for with atmospheric conditions

favorable , this marvelous Mountain of the Lord’s House

appears and disappears,and with each new appearance

pres ents some new face and charm . For half a day weare i n its companionship , and once we stopped seeminglyalmost at its foot

,but really miles away , to drink of the

Shas ta Spring whose waters are pushed upward in a

THE JOURNEY I DID NOT TA ! E

most graceful fountain,and then on into the very heart

of timber-clad mountains,whose s ides are scarred here

and there by mining enterprises,till we crossed the state

l ine of Oregon and swept ‘ down into the beautiful cityof Portland

,to

'

be the guests of our own church people .The story has already been told of that day

,and yet we

must repeat,in the words of one of our keenly observ ing

young peopl e,that the reception was one of the bright

spots in the whole trip . In this great commercial centerand beautiful residential city

,we found that there had

been builded a Univers al ist church which was a realchurch ; in location and architecture , and the memoryof the h istoric laying of the corner-stone by PresidentTaft

,i t had won a commanding p lace in the community .

Dr. Corby , ,

the pastor,led his people in a whirlwind of

hosp ital ity . An Oregon lunch , largely of salmon andloganberry p ie

,and a drive which was showered with

the roses which “bloom every month in the year , madememorable the hours

,and left enri ching recollections .

From Portland the way was through Tacoma toSeattl e

,the latter being the stopping place

,but a few

returning to Tacoma for a service in our church,which

,

under the ministry of Mr . Morgan,has won a notable

and enduri ng success .Tacoma and Seattl e have only one great mountain to

divide between them—in the former p lace you mustspeak of i t as Mount Tacoma

,in the latter as Mount

Ranier,unless you would inv ite questioning glances

and yet it has beauty enough for both if e ither the smokeor the fogs do not veil its face . Some were fortunateenough to see the veil l ifted

,disclos ing an ideal peak .

One of the pleasantest features of the itinerary wasdisclosed in the steamer trip over Puget Sound to V ic


toria, and later to Vancouver . Few bodies of water inthe world are so ideal for voyaging,for, sheltered as it is ,i t is peaceful as a lake

,and its shores are of exquisite

beauty . Coming into the Canadian cities there came th ereal ization of the fact that we were in a foreign landand at this time a land involved

,though so far away,

in the European War. And from then on until thereturn to our own country

,there were evidences

,in the

guarded bridges and the presence of soldiers,of the far

reaching influences of the awful confl ict . But the“world was ours

,

” and through the parks,among the

giant trees,and the streets Of commerc ial enterprise

we were taken,and then

,at the strange hour of 16 : 45

,

for so do they measure time in this foreign land,the

faces of the Pilgrims were turned at last towards'

home .

It would take a book,rather than the mere postscript

to these Sketches,to tel l of the next few days amid the

wonders of the Canadian Rockies . One thrill ing surprise follows after another

,with no perceptible interval

between,as the train rises from the sea l evel up into the

awe - insp iring h eights where one feels l ike a midgetamong the Titans who might have been horned amongthose maj estic peaks and glittering glaciers .Out of the confusion of abundance of scenic marvels

there rise a few names about which centers the -memoryof any who pass through this region . It was Sunday inGlacier

,surrounded by towering peaks among which

stroll ing parties wandered through the afternoon,and it

was,not only fitting

,but quite inevitable

,that there

should be suggested a service in the evening,which was

held in the parlor of the hotel , the Rev . Mr . Ayres speaking fer our people . Another illustration of how closelywe adhered to our purpose to make this a rel igious p il

1 24 A CALIFORNIA PILGRIMA

tional Yel lowstone Park,where days were S !

strange freaks and beauties of nature,an

group was exploring the Colorado Rookieing out the sp irit of the Pilgrimage by ho!in our churches in Colorado Springs andSo ends the story for those who read

,but

l ived it it wil l never end , and for our Chan era

,when we found ourselves

,- d i scove

bi l i ties,and swung open the doors to a larg

THE

preface the best of any journey we may take comes when we are home again thinking it over, and...

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